
Class D-3&& 

Book . Ai 






Copyright N°_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT; 



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§$\x 3§alt?r l^rott 



EDITED BY 



W. F. ROCHELEAU 

AUTHOR OF 

'great American industries," "geography of commerce and 

industry," notes on "evangeline," "snow-bound," 

"hiawatha" and other classics 



CHICAGO 

ORVILLE BREWER PUBLISHING CO 

1908 



.fii 






LIBRARY of CONGRESS) 
Two Copies Received 

NOV 30 1803 

Copyright Entry -. 
CLASS CX. XXc Nc 



COPYRIGHT, 1908 
BY ORVILLE BREWER 



CONTENTS 



Sir Walter Scott 


. . 5 


Introduction . 


. 10 


Map .... 


. . 14 


Canto First. . 


. 15 


Canto Second 


. . 33 


Canto Third . 


. 54 


Canto Fourth . 


• . . 57 


Canto Fifth . 


. 73 


Canto Sixth 


. . 98 


NOTES 




Canto First . 


. 115 


Canto Second 


. . 124 


Canto Fourth 


. 126 


Canto Fifth 


. . 128 


Canto Sixth . 


. 133 



SIR WALTER SCOTT 

(1771-1832) 

Sir Walter Scott, "the Wizard of the North," was 
born in Edinburgh. His father was a successful law- 
yer and a man of good education. When less than two 
years old, a fever caused Walter partially to lose the 
use of one of his limbs, and he was sent to the home of 
his grandfather Scott at Sandy-Knowe, where he grad- 
ually recovered his health, though as a result of his 
misfortune, he was lame the remainder of his life. For 
several years he was under the care of his maiden aunt 
and his grandmother, each of whom delighted in telling 
him stories or reading to him from books containing old 
Scotch ballads and tales of highland and border life. 
The young lad memorized many passages from these 
works, occasionally learning, without effort, entire bal- 
lads, and these he frequently repeated, sometimes to the 
edification, but more frequently to the annoyance, of 
visitors. 

While in school and college, Scott was distinguished 
for his remarkable memory and his ability to repeat 
ballads and poems and to tell stories. This power, com- 
bined with his genial nature, made him very popular 
with lus schoolfellows. When but a mere boy he became 
deeply interested in the old tales and ballads of the 
Scottish border, and thus early in life he unconsciously 
began the preparation for the literary career which has 
made his name a household word wherever the English 
language is spoken. 

5 



6 Sir Walter Scott 

Scott's father intended that he should be a lawyer, 
and when he completed his college course he entered his 
father's office to prepare for that profession. Here he 
remained for a number of years and afterward engaged 
in business for himself for a time, in all practicing law 
about fourteen years, and this with a good degree of 
success. However, during this time he gave more or 
less attention to literature. Although lame, he was 
fond of tramping and made many excursions over the 
neighboring counties in search of places noted for bat- 
tles, sieges or the beauty of their scenery. So frequent 
were these excursions that, notwithstanding his success 
at law, his father said that he was better fitted for a 
peddler than a lawyer. 

Scott's first work of importance was a book on The 
Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. This publication ap- 
peared in January, 1802, and was a great success, giving 
him immediate distinction in the field of literature. This 
work was followed in quite rapid succession by The Lay 
of the Last Minstrel, Marmion and The Lady of the 
Lake, which was first published in 1810. It is by these 
three long poems that Scott is most widely known as a 
poet. The English critic Jeffrey says of them: "The 
Lay, if I may venture to state the creed now established, 
is, I should say, generally considered as the most natural 
and original; Marmion as the most powerful and splen- 
did; The Lady of the Lake as the most interesting, ro- 
mantic, picturesque and graceful of his great poems." 

These ballads were followed by Rokeby and The Lord 
of the Isles. Besides these, Scott wrote a large number 
of short poems, many of which were connected with his 
novels. However, after the publication of The Lady of 
the Lake his prestige as a poet began to wane. Lord 
Byron at that time had published several poems of im- 



Sir Walter Scott 7 

portance and was attracting more attention than Scott. 
It is thought by some of his friends that this was one 
of the strong reasons for his abandoning poetry for 
fiction. However, long before this he had been attracted 
to this field of literature and had decided to write one 
or more novels. 

In the summer of 1814 Scott took up and completed a 
Jacobite story which he had begun several years before 
and laid aside. This story was Waverley and was tho 
first of that series of novels to which it gave the name. 
Waverley was published anonymously, but it immediate- 
ly attracted wide attention and was read and re-read by 
the best critics of the day as well as by the public at 
large. For a time the author was referred to as "The 
Great Unknown." However, the best literary men con- 
ceived that no one but Scott could have written such a 
story. In fourteen years following the appearance of 
Waverley, Scott wrote twenty-three novels, besides nu- 
merous short tales and articles on history. Some of these 
works were written very rapidly, and his critics consider 
that those that were completed in the shortest time are 
in many respects the strongest. 

The Waverley novels can be divided into two great 
classes : those which are historical and those referring to 
private life. Among the most prominent of the his- 
torical novels are Waverley, Legend of Montrose, Old 
Mortality, The Monastery, The Abbot, The Fair Maid 
of Perth and Castle Dangerous, all referring to Scotch 
history. The great English novels of historical charac- 
ter are Ivanhoe, Kenilworth, The Fortunes of Nigel, 
Peverel of the Peak, The Talisman, and Woodstock. 
Quentin Durward, Anne of Geirstein and Count Robert 
of Paris treat of events which transpired on the conti- 
nent of Europe. Among the most important novels of 



8 Sir Walter Scott 

the second class are Guy Mannering, The Antiquary, 
Rob Roy, The Heart of Midlothian, The Bride of 
Lammermoor and The Black Dwarf. The periods cov- 
ered by the historical novels extend from the time of the 
Crusades to that of the Pretenders in 1745. 

Soon after the publication of Waverley, Scott formed 
a partnership with Ballantyne Brothers, printers. The 
management of their business was unfortunate, and 
within a few years they failed with a heavy indebtedness. 

While Scott's relation to the firm was such that he 
could not be held responsible for this debt, yet he 
felt that he should pay it, and when he was fifty-five 
years of age he settled down to the task of paying 
off nearly six hundred thousand dollars by the work 
of his pen. For two years he worked with unremitting 
zeal and reduced the debt nearly two hundred thousand 
dollars ; but the task was too severe and his health 
failed. He would not listen to the importunities of 
his friends to take much-needed rest until it was too 
late. A trip to Italy, where he remained several months, 
was ineffective, and he returned home to die on his es- 
tate at Abbotsford, where he passed away September 
21, 1832. 

Scott's fame and place in literature rest mainly upon 
the fact that he was the originator of the historic novel. 
His works have lived because of their clear and attrac- 
tive descriptions of scenery, their keen delineation of 
character and their purity of tone. When about to die 
he said to his son-in-law, Lockhart, "I am drawing near 
to the close of my career; I am fast shuffling off the 
stage; I have been perhaps the most voluminous author 
of the day, and it is a comfort to me to think that I have 
tried to unsettle no man's faith, to corrupt no man's 
principle." 



Sir Walter Scott 9 

His novels are peculiar in that nearly all of them 
treat of public phases of life instead of private in- 
dividuals ; therefore his characters are represented as in- 
dividuals affected by public strifes and the social divi- 
sions of the day. "No man can read Scott without being 
more of a public man," his son-in-law and most faithful 
biographer, Lockhart, says of the influence of his writ- 
ings ; "but his moral, political and religious character 
has sufficiently impressed itself upon the great body of 
his writings. He is indeed one of the few great 
authors of modern Europe who stand acquitted of hav- 
ing written a line that ought to have embittered the bed 
of death. His works teach the practical lessons of moral- 
ity and Christianity in the most captivating form, un- 
obtrusively and unaffectedly." The following tribute 
was paid to his powers of description by Hon. E. J. 
Phelps, American ambassador to the court of Saint 
James, in a speech given at a banquet tendered him by 
the corporation of Glasgow. Mr. Phelps said: 

"Mankind naturally frequents scenes of great histori- 
cal events, where great men have lived, where great 
things have been done and where history has been made. 
Was the spectacle ever before seen in this world of thou- 
sands upon thousands of intelligent, cultivated people 
thronging to see the scenery and localities of events that 
never happened and the hearths and homes of people 
that never lived? Yet this is to be seen in Scotland 
every summer and will continue to be seen far into 
those summers that we shall never see." 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 

INTRODUCTION 

The scene of The Lady of the Lake is laid in the 
County of Perthshire, in the south central part of Scot- 
land and in a region remarkable for the beauty of its 
scenery, but which was practically unknown until the 
publication of this poem. While engaged in the practice 
of law, Scott was called to this region on professional 
duties, and its beauty made such an impression upon 
him that he revisited it many times. 

The period to which the poem relates is the early 
part of the sixteenth century, during the reign of 
James V of Scotland, who lived from 1513 to 1542. 
The incidents upon which The Lady of the Lake is 
based are the feuds which existed between the Scotch 
Highlanders and the Lowlanders, and the habit which 
James V had of wandering about his kingdom in dis- 
guise. The narrative of the poem describes one of these 
expeditions. 

In order that the poem may be understood, one needs 
to know something of the inhabitants and the political 
conditions at the time. During the Middle Ages and 
for some time thereafter the inhabitants of Scotland 
were divided into two classes, known as the Highlanders 
and the Lowlanders. The northern portion of Scot- 
land is very mountainous, and it was into this inhos- 
pitable region that the native inhabitants of Britain 
were driven by the Romans when they conquered that 
country. These people were never subdued and during 
the reign of the Romans and for centuries following 

11 



12 The Lady of the Lake 

made frequent predatory raids upon the more fertile 
country to the South, their object being plunder and 
revenge. It was from this stock that the Scotch High- 
landers descended. They spoke and still speak a lan- 
guage different from that of the Lowlanders and known 
as the Gaelic. In stature they were large. Their mode 
of dress was peculiar. They wore a mantle, generally 
known as the plaid, made of checked or striped stuff 
called tartan. One end of this was wrapped around the 
waist so as to form a short petticoat or kilt, which de- 
scended to the knee, while the remainder was folded 
around them like a cloak. They wore buskins made of 
rawhide and those who could procure bonnets had these 
coverings for their heads, though many of them never 
wore these articles during their entire lives. The men 
always went armed, carrying bows, arrows and large 
broadswords which they wielded with both hands. These 
they called claymores. They also used daggers for close 
fighting and a round wooden shield filled with nails as a 
protection in battle. 

The Highlanders lived in tribes known as clans. All 
the members of the clan believed themselves to have 
descended at some distant period from a common ances- 
tor. Each clan had its symbol, known as its tartan, 
which was a peculiar pattern of plaid. The common 
name Mac applied to these clans, such as MacGregor, 
MacNeil, MacDonald, expressed the belief that all the 
members of the clan belonged to one family, since this 
prefix means the son of, as MacGregor is the son of 
Gregor. The government was wholly patriarchal, and 
each member of the clan owed to his chief complete al- 
legiance. Some of these clans were large and very 
strong, and they often, either singly or in combination, 
openly defied the government of the kingdom. This de- 



The Lady of the Lake 13 

fiance together with their frequent predatory expedi- 
tions made the Highlanders a source of terror to thi 
inhabitants of the plains, or the Lowlanders. Because 
of this the king often made military expeditions into 
their country and took summary vengeance upon such 
leaders and their followers as he could find. 

The Lowlanders, on the other hand, while of equal 
courage, were more civilized than their Highland neigh- 
bors. They wore a different style of dress, resembling 
quite closely in their apparel the English. They spoke 
a different language, usually fought on horseback and 
used different weapons from the Highlanders. Between 
these two classes of inhabitants there was constant war- 
fare until Scotland was subdued by the English forces. 

James V, the FitzJames of the poem, was the son of 
James IV of Scotland and Margaret, sister of Henry 
VIII. His father was killed in the battle of Flodden, 
and James became king when two years of age. For a 
time his mother managed the affairs of the kingdom as 
regent but she became unpopular and lost the regency, 
also the control of the young king, who was placed 
under the care of the family of Douglases. This family 
governed under the name of the king. Nevertheless 
they kept him under such restraint and care that they 
practically ruled the kingdom according to their own 
desires. After he had become a young man, James de- 
cided to break away from this restraint and after two 
attempts succeeded. He fled to Stirling Castle, a strong 
fortress, and there gathered around him numerous no- 
bles who were favorable to his rule and assumed the 
reins of government. He was naturally very bitter to- 
ward the Douglas family and outlawed them. How- 
ever, in so doing he was unjust to Archibald Douglas, 
who had been very kind to him as a boy and was in no 



14 The Lady of the Lake 

wise concerned with the usurpation of government by 
the other members of the family. Archibald is the 
Douglas mentioned in the poem. 

The reign of James V was in the main wise, conserva- 
tive and beneficial to Scotland. He subdued the lawless 
tribes in the Highlands and made life and property 
safe throughout the kingdom. A short time before his 
death the queen gave birth to a daughter, who is known 
in history as the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots. 

In the poem Scott describes Highland life and char- 
acter as they existed in the sixteenth century. The 
time included in the narrative occupies six days, and 
the poem is divided into six cantos, each canto recount- 
ing the events of a day. 

Because of the length of this poem, certain passages 
which are irrelevant to the narrative have been omitted, 
and wherever an explanatory connection is needed be- 
cause of such omission, it occurs in the text. The notes 
contain such explanations as the editor has found valu- 
able in the classroom. They are placed in the back of 
the book and are numbered to correspond with the line 
or lines which they respectively explain. 



THE LADY OF THE LAKE 

CANTO FIRST 
THE CHASE 
I 
The stag at eve had drunk his fill, 
Where danced the moon on Monan's rill, 
And deep his midnight lair had made 
In lone Glenartney's hazel shade; 

But, when the sun his beacon red 5 

Had kindled on Benvoirlich's head, 
The deep-mouth'd bloodhound's heavy bay 
Resounded up the rocky way, 
And faint from farther distance borne, 
Were heard the clanging hoof and horn. 10 

ii 

As chief, who hears his warder call, 
"To arms ! the f oemen storm the wall," 
The antler'd monarch of the waste 
Sprung from his heathery couch in haste. 
But, ere his fleet career he took, 15 

The dew-drops from his flank he shook ; 
Like crested leader proud and high, 
Toss'd his beam'd frontlet to the sky ; 
A moment gazed adown the dale, 

A moment snuff'd the tainted gale, 20 

A moment listen'd to the cry, 
That thicken'd as the chase drew nigh; 
Then, as the headmost foes appear'd, 
With one brave bound the copse he clear'd, 
And, stretching forward free and far, 25 

Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var. 

.5 



16 The Lady of the Lake 

m 

Yell'd on the view the opening pack ; 

Rock, glen, and cavern, paid them back: 

To many a mingled sound at once 

The awaken'd mountain gave response. 30 

A hundred dogs bay'd deep and strong, 

Clatter'd a hundred steeds along, 

Their peal the merry horns rung out, 

A hundred voices join'd the shout; 

With hark and whoop and wild halloo, 35 

No rest Benvoirlich's echoes knew. 

Far from the tumult fled the roe, 

Close in her covert cower'd the doe, 

The falcon, from her cairn on high, 

Cast on the rout a wondering eye, 40 

Till far beyond her piercing ken 

The hurricane had swept the glen. 

Faint and more faint, its failing din 

Return'd from cavern, cliff, and linn, 

And silence settled, wide and still, 45 

On the lone wood and might; hill. 

i\ 

The noble stag was pausing now, 

Upon the mountain's southern brow, 

Where broad extended, far beneath, 

The varied realms of fair Menteith. 50 

With anxious eye he wander'd o'er 

Mountain and meadow, moss and moor, 

And ponder'd refuge from his toil, 

By far Lochard or Aberfoyle. 

But nearer was the copsewood gray, 55 

That waved and wept on Loch-Achray, 

And mingled with the pine-trees blue "^_ 



The Lady of the Lake 17 

On the bold cliffs of Benvenue. 

Fresh vigour with the hope return'd, 

With flying foot the heath he spurn'd, 60 

Held westward with unwearied race, 

And left behind the panting chase. 



'Twere long to tell what steeds gave o'er, 

As swept the hunt through Cambus-more : 

What reins were tighten'd in despair, 65 

When rose Benlcdi's ridge in air; 

Who flagg'd upon Bochastle's heath, 

Who shunn'd to stem the flooded Teith, — 

For twice that day, from shore to shore, 

The gallant stag swam stoutly o'er. 70 

i ew were the stragglers, following far, 

That reach'd the lake of Vennachar ; 

And when the Brigg of Turk was won, 

The headmost horseman rode alone. 

7 

VI 

Alone, but with unbated zeal, 75 

That horseman plied the scourge and steel; 

For jaded now, and spent with toil, 

Emboss'd with foam, and dark with soil, 

While every gasp with sobs he drew, 

The labouring stag strain'd full in view. 80 

Two dogs of black Saint Hubert's breed, 

Unmatch'd for courage, breath, and speed, 

Fast on his flying traces came 

And all but won that desperate game; 

For, scarce a spear's length from his haunch, 85 

Vindictive toil'd the bloodhounds stanch; 

Nor nearer might the dogs attain, 



18 The Lady of the Lake 

Nor farther might the quarry strain. 

Thus up the margin of the lake, 

Between the precipice and brake, 90 

O'er stock and rock their race they take. 

VII 

The Hunter mark'd that mountain high, 

The lone lake's western boundary, 

And deemed the stag must turn to bay, 

Where that huge rampart barr'd the way; 95 

Already glorying in the prize, 

Measured his antlers with his eyes ; 

For the death-wound and death-halloo, 

Muster'd his breath, his whinyard drew; — 

But thundering as he came prepared, 100 

With ready arm and weapon bared, 

The wily quarry shunn'd the shock, 

And turn'd him from the opposing rock ; 

Then, dashing down a darksome glen, 

Soon lost to hound and hunter's ken, 105 

In the deep Trosach's wildest nook 

His solitary refuge took. 

There, while close couch'd, the thicket shed 

Cold dews and wild-flowers on his head, 

lie heard the baffled dogs in vain 110 

Rave through the hollow pass amain, 

Chiding the l'ocks that yell'd again. 

VIII 

Close on the hounds the hunter came, 

To cheer them on the vanish'd game; 

But, stumbling in the rugged dell, 115 

The gallant horse exhausted fell. 

The impatient rider strove in vain 



The Lady of the Lake 19 

To rouse him with the spur and rein, 

For the good steed, his labours o'er, 

Stretch'd his stiff limbs, to rise no more; 120 

Then, touched with pity and remorse, 

He sorrowed o'er the expiring horse. 

"I little thought, when first thy rein 

I slack'd upon the banks of Seine, 

That Highland eagle e'er should feed 125 

On thy fleet limbs, my matchless steed! 

Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, 

That costs thy life, my gallant grey !" 

IX 

Then through the dell his horn resounds, 

From vain pursuit to call the hounds. 130 

Back limp'd, with slow and crippled pace, 

The sulky leaders of the chase, 

And on the hunter hied his way, 

To join some comrades of the day; 

Yet often paused, so strange the road, 135 

So wondrous were the scenes it show'd. 



The western waves of ebbing day 

Rolled o'er the glen their level way; 

Each purple peak, each flinty spire, 

Was bathed in floods of living fire. 140 

But not a setting beam could glow 

Within the dark ravines below, 

Where twined the path in shadow hid, 

Round many a rocky pyramid, 

Shooting abruptly from the dell 145 

Its thunder-splintered pinnacle. 

The rocky summits, split and rent, 

Formed turret, dome, or battlement, 



20 The Lady of the Lake 

Or seemed fantastically set 

With cupola or minaret, 150 

Wild crests as pagod ever decked, 

Or mosque of Eastern architect. 

XI 

Boon nature scattered, free and wild, 

Each plant or flower, the mountain's child. 

Here eglantine embalmed the air, 155 

Hawthorn and hazel mingled there; 

The primrose pale and violet flower 

Found in each clif t a narrow bower ; 

Foxglove and nightshade, side by side, 

Emblems of punishment and pride, 160 

Grouped their dark hues with every stain 

The weather-beaten crags retain. 

With boughs that quaked at every breath, 

Gray birch and aspen wept beneath; 

Aloft, the ash and warrior oak; 165 

Cast anchor in the rifted rock; 

And, higher yet, the pine-tree hung 

His shattered trunk, and frequent flung, 

Where seemed the cliffs to meet on high, 

His boughs athwart the narrowed sky. 170 

Highest of all, where white peaks glanced, 

Where glistening streamers waved and danced, 

The wanderer's eye could barely view 

The summer heaven's delicious blue; 

So wondrous wild, the whole might seem 175 

The scenery of a fairy dream. 

xn 
And now, to issue from the glen, 
No pathway meets the wanderer's ken, 
Unless he climb, with footing nice, 
A far projecting precipice. . 180 



The Lady of the Lake 21 

The broom's tough roots his ladder made, 

The hazel saplings lent their aid ; 

And thus an airy point he won, 

Where, gleaming with the setting sun, 

One burnish'd sheet of living gold, 185 

Loch Katrine lay beneath him roll'd, 

In all her length far winding lay, 

With promontory, creek, and bay, 

And islands that, empurpled bright, 

Floated amid the livelier light, 190 

And mountains, that like giants stand, 

To sentinel enchanted land. 

High on the south, huge Benvenue 

Down on the lake in masses threw 

Crags, knolls and mounds, confusedly hurl'd 195 

The fragments of an earlier world; 

A wildering forest feather'd o'er 

His ruin'd sides and summit hoar, 

While on the north, through middle air, 

Ben-an heaved high his forehead bare. 200 

XIII 

From the steep promontory gazed 

The stranger, raptured and amazed. 

And, "What a scene were here," he cried, 

"For princely pomp, or churchman's pride! 

On this bold brow, a lordly tower: 205 

In that soft vale, a lady's bower; 

On yonder meadow, far away, 

The turrets of a cloister grey. 

Blithe were it then to wander here ! 

But now, — beshrew yon nimble deer, — 210 

Like that same hermit's, thin and spare, 

The copse must give my evening fare; 

Some mossy bank my couch must be, 



22 The Lady of the Lake 

Some rustling oak my canopy. 

But hosts may in these wilds abound, 215 

Such as are better miss'd than found ; 

To meet with Highland plunderers here, 

Were worse than loss of steed or deer. 

I am alone; — my bugle-strain 

May call some straggler of the train ; 220 

Or, fall the worst that may betide, 

Ere now this falchion has. been tried." 

XIV 

But scarce again his horn he wound, 

When lo ! forth starting at the sound, 

From underneath an aged oak, 225 

That slanted from the islet rock, 

A damsel guider of its way, 

A little skiff shot to the bay, 

That round the promontory steep 

Led its deep line in graceful sweep, 230 

Eddying, in almost viewless wave, 

The weeping willow-twig to lave, 

And kiss, with whispering sound and slow, 

The beach of pebbles bright as snow. 

The boat had touched this silver strand, 235 

Just as the Hunter left his stand, 

And stood conceal'd amid the brake, 

To view this Lady of the Lake. 

The maiden paused, as if again 

She thought to catch the distant strain. 240 

With head up-raised, and look intent, 

And eye and ear attentive bent, 

And locks flung back, and lips apart, 

Like monument of Grecian art, 

In listening mood, she seem'd to stand, 245 

The guardian Naiad of the strand. 



The Lady of the Lake 23 

XV 

A Chieftain's daughter seem'd the maid; 

Her satin snood, her silken plaid, 

Her golden brooch, such birth betray'd. 

And seldom was a snood amid 250 

Such wild luxuriant ringlets hid, 

Whose glossy black to shame might bring 

The plumage of the raven's wing; 

And seldom o'er a breast so fair, 

Mantled a plaid with modest care, 255 

And never brooch the folds combined 

Above a heart more good and kind. 

Her kindness and her worth to spy, 

You need but gaze on Ellen's eye ; 

Not Katrine, in her mirror blue, 260 

Gives back the shaggy banks more true, 

Than every free-born glance confess'd 

The guileless movements of her breast ; 

Whether joy danced in her dark eye 

Or woe or pity claim'd a sigh, 265 

Or filial love was glowing there, 

Or meek devotion pour'd a prayer, 

Or tale of injury call'd forth 

The indignant spirit of the North. 

One only passion unreveal'd, 270 

With maiden pride and maid conceal'd, 

Yet not less purely felt the flame; 

O need I tell that passion's name ! 

XVI 

Impatient of the silent horn, 

Now on the gale her voice was borne : — 275 

"Father !" she cried ; the rocks around 

Loved to prolong the gentle sound. 

A while she paused, no answer came, — 



24 The Lady of the Lake 

"Malcolm, was thine the blast?" the name 

Less resolutely utter'd fell, 280 

The echoes could not catch the swell. 

"A stranger I," the Huntsuian said, 

Advancing from the hazel shade. 

The maid, alarmed, with hasty oar, 

Push'd her light shallop from the shore, 285 

And when a space was gain'd between, 

Closer she drew her bosom's screen; 

(So forth the startled swan would swing, 

So turn to prune his ruffled wing.) 

Then safe, though flutter'd and amazed, 290 

She paused, and on the stranger gazed. 

Not his the form, nor his the eye, 

That youthful maidens wont to fly. 

XVII 

On his bold visage middle age 

Had slightly press'd its signet sage, 295 

Yet had not quench'd the open truth 

And fiery vehemence of youth; 

Forward and frolic glee was there, 

The will to do, the soul to dare, 

The sparkling glance, soon blown te 300 

Of hasty love, or headlong ire. 

His limbs were cast in manly mould, 

For hardy sports or contest bold; 

And though in peaceful garb array'd, 

And weaponless, except his blade, 305 

His stately mien as well implied 

A high-born heart, a martial pride, 

As if a baron's crest he wore, 

And sheathed in armour trode the shore. 

Slighting the petty need he show'd, 810 



The Lady of the Lake 25 

He told of his benighted road; 

His ready speech flow'd fair and free, 

In phrase of gentlest courtesy ; 

Yet seem'd that tone, and' gesture bland, 

Less used to sue than to command. 315 

XVIII 

A while the maid the stranger eyed, 

And, reassured, at length replied, 

That Highland halls were open still 

To wilder'd wanderers of the hill. 

"Nor think you unexpected come 320 

To yon lone isle, our desert home; 

Before the heath had lost the dew, 

This morn, a couch was pull'd for you; 

On yonder mountain's purple head 

Have ptarmigan and heath-cock bled, 325 

And ou" broad nets have swept the mere 

To ' ih forth your evening cheer." — 

"Now, by the rood, my lovely maid, 

Your courtesy has err'd," he said; 

"No right have I to claim, misplaced, 330 

The welcome of expected guest. 

Aw?* 1 ' ^re by fortune tost, 

M v ^ t nds, my courser lost. 

I ne'er before, believe me, fair, 

Have ever drawn your mountain air, 335 

Till on this lake's romantic strand, 

I found a fay in fairy land!" — 

xix 

"I well believe," the maid replied, 

As her light skiff approached the side, 

"I well believe, that ne'er before 340 

Your foot has trod Loch Katrine's shore; 



26 The Lady of the Lake 

But jet, as far as yesternight, 

Old Allan-bane foretold jour plight, 

A graj-haired sire, whose eye intent 

Was on the visioned future bent. 345 

He saw your steed, a dappled gray, 

Lie dead beneath the birchen way ; 

Painted exact your form and mien, 

Your hunting suit of Lincoln green, 

That tasselled horn so gayly gilt, 350 

That falchion's crooked blade and hilt, 

That cap with heron plumage trim, 

And yon two hounds so dark and grim. 

He bade that all should ready be 

To grace a guest of fair degree; 355 

But light I held his prophecy, 

And deemed it was my father's horn 

Whose echoes o'er the lake were borne." 

xx 

The stranger smiled: — Since to your home 

A destined errant-knight I come, 360 

Announced by prophet sooth and old, 

Doomed, doubtless, for achievement bold, 

I'll lightly front each high emprise 

For one kind glance of those bright eyes. 

Permit me first the task to guide 365 

Your fair frigate o'er the tide." 

The maid, with smile suppressed and sly, 

The toil unwonted saw him try; 

For seldom, sure, if e'er before, 

His noble hand had grasped an oar: 370 

Yet with main strength his strokes he drew, 

And o'er the lake the shallop flew ; 

With heads erect and whimpering cry, 

The hounds behind their passage ply. 









The Lady of the Lake 27 

Nor frequent does the bright oar break, 375 

The darkening mirror of the lake, 
Until the rocky isle they reach, 
And moor their shallop on the beach. 

XXI 

The stranger viewed the shore around ; 

'T was all so close with copsewood bound, 380 

Nor track nor pathway might declare 

That human foot frequented there, 

Until the mountain maiden showed 

A clambering unsuspected road, 

That winded through the tangled screen, 385 

And opened on a narrow green, 

Where weeping birch and willow round 

With their long fibres swept the ground 

Here, for retreat in dangerous hour, 

Some chief had framed a rustic bower. 390 

xxn 

It was a lodge of ample size, 

But strange of structure and device; 

Of such materials as around 

The workman's hand had readiest found. 

Due westward, fronting to the green, 395 

A rural portico was seen, 

Aloft on native pillars borne, 

Of mountain fir with bark unshorn, 

Where Ellen's hand had taught to twine 

The ivy and Idasan vine, 400 

The clematis, the favored flower 

Which boasts the name of virgin-bower, 

And every hardy plant could bear 



28 The Lady of the Lake 

Loch Katrine's keen and searching air. 

An instant in this porch she stayed, 405 

And gayly to the stranger said: 

'On heaven and on thy lady call, 

And enter the enchanted hall!' 



XXIII 

'My hope, my heaven, my trust must be, 

My gentle guide, in following thee!' — 410 

He crossed the threshold, — and a clang 

Of angry steel that instant rang. 

To his bold brow his spirit rushed, 

But soon for vain alarm he blushed, 

When on the floor he saw displayed, 415 

Cause of the din, a naked blade 

Dropped from the sheath, that careless flung 

Upon a stag's huge antlers swung; 

For all around, the walls to grace, 

Hung trophies of the fight or chase : 420 

A target there, a bugle here, 

A battle-axe, a hunting-spear, 

And broadswords, bows, and arrows store, 

With the tusked trophies of the boar. 

Here grins the wolf as when he died, 425 

And there the wild-cat's brindled hide 

The frontlet of the elk adorns, 

Or mantles o'er the bison's horns; 

Pennons and flags defaced and stained, 

That blackening streaks of blood retained, 430 

And deer-skins, dappled, dun, and white, 

With otter's fur and seal's unite, 

In rude and uncouth tapestry all, 

To garnish forth the sylvan hall. 



The Lady of the Lake 29 

XXIV 

The wondering stranger round him gazed, 435 

And next the fallen weapon raised : — 

Few were the arms whose sinewy strength 

Sufficed to stretch it forth at length. 

And as the brand he poised and swayed, 440 

"I never knew but one,' -1 he said, 

"Whose stalwart arm might brook to wield 

A blade like this in battle-field." 

She sighed, then smiled and took the word: 

"You see the guardian champion's sword." 445 

XXV 

The mistress of the mansion came, 

Mature of age, a graceful dame, 

Whose easy step and stately port 

Had well become a princely court, 

To whom, though more than kindred knew, 450 

Young Ellen gave a mother's due. 

Meet welcome to her guest she made, 

And every courteous rite was paid 

That hospitality could claim, 

Though all unasked his birth and name. 455 

Such then the reverence to a guest, 

That fellest foe might join the feast, 

And from his deadliest foeman's door 

Unquestioned turn, the banquet o'er. 

At length his rank the stranger names, 460 

"The Knight of Snowdoun, James Fitz-James; 

Lord of a barren heritage, 

Which his brave sires, from age to age, 

By their good swords had held with toil; 

His sire had fallen in such turmoil, 465 

And he, God wot, was forced to stand 



30 The Lady of the Lake 

Oft for his right with blade in hand. 

This morning with Lord Moray's train 

He chased a stalwart stag in vain, 

Outstripped his comrades, missed the deer, 470 

Lost his good steed, and wandered here." 

XXVI 

Fain would the Knight in turn require 

The name and state of Ellen's sire. 

Well showed the elder lady's mien 

That courts and cities she had seen; 475 

Ellen, though more her looks displayed 

The simple grace of sylvan maid, 

In speech and gesture, form and face, 

Showed she was come of gentle race. 

'T were strange in ruder rank to find 480 

Such looks, such manners, and such mind. 

Each hint the Knight of Snowdoun gave, 

Dame Margaret heard with silence grave; 

Or Ellen, innocently gay, 

Turned all inquiry light away. 485 

XXVH 

The hall was cleared, — the stranger's bed, 

Was there of mountain heather spread, 

Where oft a hundred guests had lain, 

And dreamed their forest sports again. 

But vainly did the heath-flower shed 490 

Its moorland fragrance round his head ; 

Not Ellen's spell had lulled to rest 

The fever of his troubled breast. 

In broken dreams the image rose 

Of varied perils, pains, and woes : 495 

His steed now flounders in the brake, 



The Lady of the Lake 31 

Now sinks his barge upon the lake; 

Now leader of a broken host, 

His standard falls, his honor's lost. 

Then, — from my couch may heavenly might 500 

Chase that worst phantom of the night ! — 

Again returned the scenes of youth, 

Of confident, undoubting truth ; 

Again his soul he interchanged 

With friends whose hearts were long estranged. 505 

XXVIII 

At length, with Ellen in a grove 

He seemed to walk and speak of love; 

She listened with a blush and sigh, 

His suit was warm, his hopes were high. 

He sought her yielded hand to clasp, 510 

And a cold gauntlet met his grasp : 

The phantom's sex was changed and gone, 

Upon its head a helmet shone ; 

Slowly enlarged to giant size, 

With darkened cheek and threatening eyes, 515 

The grisly visage, stern and hoar, 

To Ellen still a likeness bore. — 

He woke, and, panting with affright, 

Recalled the vision of the night. 

The hearth's decaying brands were red, 520 

And deep and dusky lustre shed, 

Half showing, half concealing, all 

The uncouth trophies of the hall. 

Mid those the stranger fixed his eye 

Where that huge falchion hung on high, 525 

And thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng, 

Rushed, chasing countless thoughts along, 

Until, the giddy whirl to cure, 

He rose and sought the moonshine pure. 



32 The Lady of the Lake 



XXIX 



The wild rose, eglantine, and broom 530 

Wasted around their rich perfume ; 

The birch-trees wept in fragrant balm ; 

The aspens slept beneath the calm ; 

The silver light, with quivering glance, 

Played on the water's still expanse, — 535 

Wild were the heart whose passion's sway 

Could rage beneath the sober ray ! 

He felt its calm, that warrior guest, 

While thus he communed with his breast: — 

'Why is it, at each turn I trace 540 

Some memory of that exiled race? 

Can I not mountain maiden spy, 

But she must bear the Douglas-eye? 

Can I not view a Highland brand, 

But it must match the Douglas hand ? 545 

Can I not frame a fevered dream, 

But still the Douglas is the theme? 

I'll dream no more, — by manly mind 

Not even in sleep is will resigned. 

My midnight orisons said o'er, 550 

I'll turn to rest, and dream no more.' 

His midnight orisons he told, 

A prayer with every bead of gold, 

Consigned to heaven his cares and woes, 

And sunk in undisturbed repose, 555 

Until the heath-cock shrilly crew, 

And morning dawned on Benvenue. 



The Lady of the Lake 33 



CANTO SECOND 
THE ISLAND 

The second canto deals with the events of the second 
day. Early in the morning Fitz James is furnished 
with a guide and takes his departure. Ellen watches 
him with interest and the old minstrel wafts him on his 
way with a song, which continues until the boat reaches 
the opposite shore. Fitz James lingers on the beach for 
a moment, hoping to receive a final token of farewell. 



While yet he loitered on the spot, 

It seemed as Ellen marked him not; 

But when he turned him to the glade, 

One courteous parting sign she made ; 

And after, oft the knight would say, 5 

That not when prize of festal day, 

Was dealt him by the brightest fair 

Who e'er wore jewel in her hair 

So highly did his bosom swell 

As at that simple mute farewell. 10 

Now with a trusty mountain-guide, 

And his dark stag-hounds by his side, 

He parts, — the maid, unconscious still, 

Watched him wind slowly round the hill ; 

But when his stately form was hid, 15 

The guardian in her bosom chid, — 

"Thy Maloelm! vain and selfish maid!" 

'Twas thus upbraiding conscience said, — 

"Not so had Malcolm idly hung 

On the smooth phrase of Southern tongue; 20 



34 The Lady of the Lake 

Not so had Malcolm strained his eye 

Another step than thine to spy." — 

"Wake, Allan-bane," aloud she cried 

To the old minstrel by her side, — ' 

"Arouse thee from thy moody dream ! 25 

I'll give thy harp heroic theme, 

And warm thee with a noble name; 

Pour forth the glory of the Graeme!" 

ii 

The minstrel waked his harp, — three times 

Arose the well-known martial chimes, 30 

And thrice their high heroic pride 

In melancholy murmurs died. 

"Vainly thou bidst, O noble maid," 

Clasping his withered hands, he said, 

"Vainly thou bidst me wake the strain, 35 

Though all unwont to bid in vain. 

Alas! than mine a mightier hand 

Has tuned my harp, my strings has spanned ! 

I touch the chords of joy, but low 

And mournful answer notes of woe ; 40 

And the proud march which victors tread 

Sinks in the wailing for the dead. 

m 

"But ah ! dear lady, thus it sighed, 

The eve thy sainted mother died ; 

And such the sounds which, while I strove 45 

To wake a lay of war or love, 

Came marring all the festal mirth, 

Appalling me who gave them birth, 

And, disobedient to my call, 

Wailed loud through Bothwell's bannered' hall, 50 



The Lady of the Lake 35 

Ere Douglases, to ruin driven. 

Were exiled from their native heaven. — 

O! if yet worse mishap and woe 

My master's house* must undergo, 

Or aught but weal to Ellen fair 55 

Brood in these accents of despair, 

No future bard, sad Harp ! shall fling 

Triumph or rapture from thy string ; 

One short, one final strain shall flow, 

Fraught with unutterable woe, 60 

Then shivered shall thy fragments lie, 

Thy master cast him down and die!" 

IV 

Soothing she answered him: "Assuage, 

Mine honored friend, the fears of age ; 

All melodies to thee are known 65 

That harp has rung or pipe has blown, 

In Lowland vale or Highland glen, 

From Tweed to Spey — what marvel, then, 

At times unbidden notes should rise, 

Confusedly bound in memory's ties, 70 

Entangling, as they rush along, 

The war-march with the funeral song?" — 

Her smile, her speech, with winning sway, 

Wiled the old Harper's mood away. 

With such a look as hermits throw, 75 

When angels stoop to soothe their woe, 

He gazed, till fond regret and pride 

Thrilled to a tear, then thus replied: 

"Loveliest and best! thou little know'st 

The rank, the honors, thou hast lost! 80 

O, might I live to see thee grace, 

In Scotland's court, thy birthright place, 



36 The Lady of the Lake 

To see my favorite's step advance 

The lightest in the courtly dance. 

The cause of every gallant's sigh, 69 

And leading star of every eye, 

And theme of every minstrel's art, 

The Lady of the Bleeding Heart !" 



"Fair dreams are these," the maiden cried, — 

Light was her accent, yet she sighed, — 90 

"Yet is this mossy rock to me 

Worth splendid chair and canopy; 

Nor would my footstep spring more gay 

In courtly dance than blithe strathspey, 

Nor half so pleased mine ear incline 95 

To royal minstrel's lay as thine." 

The ancient bard her glee repressed: 

"111 hast thou chosen theme for jest! 

For who, through all this western wild, 

Named Black Sir Roderick e'er, and smiled? 100 

In Holy-Rood a knight he slew ; 

I saw, when back the dirk he drew, 

Courtiers give place before the stride 

Of the undaunted homicide ; 

And since, though outlawed, hath his hand 105 

Full sternly kept his mountain land. 

Who else dared give — ah! woe the day, 

That I such hated truth should say ! — 

The Douglas, like a stricken deer, 

Disowned by every noble peer, 110 

Even the rude refuge we have here ? 

Alas, this wild marauding Chief 

Alone might hazard our relief, 

And now thy maiden charms expand, 



The Lady of the Lake 37 

Looks for his guerdon in thy hand; 115 

Full soon may dispensation sought, 

To back his suit, from Rome be brought. 

Then, though an exile on the hill, 

Thy father, as the Douglas, still 

Be held in reverence and fear; 120 

That thou mightst guide with silken thread, 

Slave of thy will, this chieftain-dread, 

Yet, O loved maid, thy mirth refrain ! 

Thy hand is on a lion's mane." — 125 

VI 

"Minstrel," the maid replied, and high 

Her father's soul glanced from her eye, 

"My debts to Roderick's house I know: 

All that a mother could bestow 

To Lady Margaret's care I owe, 130 

Since first an orphan in the wild 

She sorrowed o'er her sister's child; 

To her brave chieftain son, from ire 

Of Scotland's king who shrouds my sire, 

A deeper, holier debt is owed; 135 

And, could I pay it with my blood, 

Allan ! Sir Roderick should command 

My blood, my life, — but not my hand, 

Rather will Ellen Douglas dwell 

A votaress in Maronnan's cell; 140 

Rather through realms beyond the sea, 

Seeking the world's cold charity, 

Where ne'er was spoke a Scottish word, 

And ne'er the name of Douglas heard, 

An outcast pilgrim will she rove, 145 

Than wed the man she cannot love. 

To change such odious theme were best, — 

What think'st thou of our stranger guest?" — 



38 The Lady of the Lake 

VII 

"What think I of him? — woe the while 

That brought such wanderer to our isle! 150 

Thy father's battle-brand, of yore 

For Tine-man forged by fairy lore, 

What time he leagued, no longer foes, 

His Border spears with Hotspur's bows, 

Did, self-unscabbarded foreshow 155 

The footstep of a secret foe. 

If courtly spy hath harbored here, 

What may we for the Douglas fear? 

What for this island, deemed of old 160 

Clan- Alpine's last and surest hold? 

Beware! — But hark! what sounds are these? 

My dull ears catch no faltering breeze, 

No weeping birch nor aspens wake, 

Nor breath is dimpling in the lake; 165 

Still is the canna's hoary beard, 

Yet, by my minstrel faith, I heard — 

And hark again ! some pipe of war 

Sends the bold pibroch from afar." 

VIII 

Far up the lengthened lake were spied 170 

Four darkening specks upon the tide, 

That, slow enlarging on the view, 

Four manned and masted barges grew, 

And, bearing downwards from Glengyle, 

Steered full upon the lonely isle; 175 

The point of Brianchoil they passed, 

And, to the windward as they cast, 

Against the sun they gave to shine 

The bold Sir Roderick's bannered Pine. 

Nearer and nearer as they bear, 180 

Spears, pikes, and axes flash in air. 



The Lady of the Lake 39 

Now might you see the tartans brave, 

And plaids and plumage dance and wave : 

Now see the bonnets sink and rise, 

As his tough oar the rower plies; 185 

See, flashing at each sturdy stroke, 

The wave ascending into smoke ; 

See the proud pipers on the bow, 

And mark the gaudy streamers flow 

From their loud chanters down, and sweep 190 

The furrowed bosom of the deep, 

As, rushing through the lake amain, 

They plied the ancient Highland strain. 

IX 

Ever, as on they bore, more loud 

And louder rung the pibroch proud. 195 

At first the sounds, by distance tame; 

Mellowed along the waters came, 

And, lingering long by cape and bay, 

Wailed every harsher note away. 

Then bursting bolder on the ear, 200 

The clan's shrill Gathering they could hear, 

Those thrilling sounds that call the might 

Of old Clan-Alpine to the fight. 

Thick beat the rapid notes, as when 

The mustering hundreds shake the glen, 205 

And hurrying at the signal dread, 

The battered earth returns their tread, 

Then prelude light, of livelier tone, 

Expressed their merry marching on, 

Ere peal of closing battle rose, 210 

With mingled outcry, shrieks, and blows ; 

And mimic din of stroke and ward, 

As broadsword upon target jarred; 

And groaning pause, ere yet again, 



40 The Lady of the Lake 

Condensed, the battle yelled amain: 215 

The rapid charge, the rallying shout, 
Retreat borne headlong into rout; 
And bursts of triumph, to declare 
Clan-Alpine's conquest — all were there. 
Nor ended thus the strain, but slow 220 

Sunk in a moan prolonged and low, 
And changed the conquering clarion swell 
For wild lament o'er those that fell. 

x 

The war-pipes ceased, but lake and hill 

Were busy with their echoes still ; 225 

And, when they slept, a vocal strain 

Bade their hoarse chorus wake again 

While loud a hundred clansmen raise 

Their voices in their Chieftain's praise. 

Each boatman, bending to his oar, 230 

With measured sweep the burden bore. 

In such wild cadence as the breeze 

Makes through the December leafless trees. 

The chorus first could Allan know, 

"Roderick Vich Alpine, ho! iro!" 235 

And near, and nearer as they rowed, 

Distinct the martial ditty flowed. 

XI 
BOAT SONG. 

Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances ! 

Honored and blessed be the ever-green Pine.' , 
Long may the tree, in his banner that glances, 240 

Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line ! 
Heaven send it happy dew, 
Earth lend it sap anew, 
Gayly to bourgeon and broadly to grow, 

While every Highland glen 245 

Sends our shout back again, 



The Lady of the Lake 41 

"Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe! 11 
Ours is no sapling, chance-sown by the fountain, 

Blooming at Beltane, in winter to fade; 
When the whirlwind has stripped every leaf 

on the mountain 250 

The more shall Clan-Alpine exult in her shade. 
Moored in the rifted rock, 
Proof to the tempest's shock, 
Firmer he roots him the ruder it blow; 

Menteith and Breadalbane, then, 255 

Echo his praise again, 
"Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe !" 

xn 

Proudly our pibroch has thrilled in Glen Fruin, 

And Bannochar's groans to our slogan replied; 
Glen Luss and Ross-dhu, they are smoking in ruin, 260 
And the best of Loch Lomond lie dead on her side. 

Widow and Saxon maid 

Long shall lament our raid, 
Think of Clan-Alpine with fear and with woe; 

Lennox and Leven-glen 265 

Shake when they hear again, 
"Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe !" 

Row, vassals, row, for the pride of the Highlands ! 

Stretch to your oars for the ever-green Pine ! 
O that the rosebud that graces yon islands 270 

Were wreathed in a garland around him to twine ! 

O that some seedling gem, 

Worthy such noble stem, 
Honored and blessed in their shadow might grow ! 

Loud should Clan-Alpine then 275 

Ring from her deepmost glen, 
"Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe !" 



42 The Lady of the Lake 

XIII 

With all her joyful female band 

Had Lady Margaret sought the strand. 

Loose on the breeze their tresses flew, 280 

And high their snowy arms they threw, 

As echoing back with shrill acclaim, 

And chorus wild, the Chieftain's name ; 

While, prompt to please, with mother's art, 

The darling passion of his heart, 285 

The Dame called Ellen to the strand, 

To greet her kinsman ere he land : 

"Come, loiterer, come! a Douglas thou, 

And shun to wreathe a victor's brow?" 

Reluctantly and slow, the maid 290 

The unwelcome summoning obeyed, 

And when a distant bugle rung, 

In the mid-path aside she sprung: — 

"List, Allan-bane ! From mainland cast 

I hear my father's signal blast. 295 

Be ours," she cried, "skiff to guide, 

And waft him from the mountain-side." 

Then, like a sunbeam, swift and bright, 

She darted to her shallop light, 

And, eagerly while Roderick scanned, 300 

For her dear form, his mother's band, 

The islet far behind her lay, 

And she had landed in the bay. 

XIV 

Some feelings are to mortals given 

With less of earth in them than heaven; 

And if there be a human tear 305 

From passion's dross refined and clear, 

A tear so limpid and so meek 

It would not stain an angel's cheek, 

'Tis that which pious fathers shed 



The Lady of the Lake 43 

Upon a duteous daughter's head! 310 

And as the Douglas to his breast 

His darling Ellen closely pressed, 

Such holy drops her tresses steeped, 

Though 't was an hero's eye that weeped. 

Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue 315 

Her filial welcomes crowded hung, 

Marked she that fear — affection's proof — 

Still held a graceful youth aloof; 

No! not till Douglas named his name, 

Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme. 320 



Of statute fair, and slender frame, 

But firmly knit, was Malcolm Graeme. 

The belted plaid and tartan hose 

Did ne'er more graceful limbs disclose ; 

His flaxen hair, of sunny hue, 325 

Curled closely round his bonnet blue. 

Trained to the chase, his eagle eye 

The ptarmigan in snow could spy ; 

Each pass, by mountain, lake, and heath, 

He knew, through Lennox and Menteith ; 330 

Vain was the bound of dark -brown doe 

When Malcolm bent his sounding bow, 

And scarce that doe, though winged with fear, 

Outstripped in speed the mountaineer: 

Right up Ben Lomond could he press, 335 

And not a sob his toil confess. 

His form accorded with a mind 

Lively and ardent, frank and kind; 

A blither heart, till Ellen came, 

Did never love nor sorrow tame ; 340 

It danced as lightsome in his breast 

As played the feather on his crest. 



44 The Lady of the Lake 

Yet friends, who nearest knew the youth, 

His scorn of wrong, his zeal for truth, 

And bards, who saw his features bold 345 

When kindled by the tales of old, 

Said, were that youth to manhood grown, 

Not long should Roderick Dhu's renown 

Be foremost voiced by mountain fame, 

But quail to that of Malcolm Graeme. 350 

KVI 

Now back they wend their watery way, 

And, "O my sire I" did Ellen say, 

"Why urge thy chase so far astray? 

And why so late returned? And why' 1 — 

The rest was in her speaking eye. 355 

"My child, the chase I follow far, 

'T is mimicry of noble war; 

And with that gallant pastime reft 

Were all of Douglas I have left. 

I met young Malcolm as I strayed 360 

Far eastward, in Glenfinlas' shade; 

Nor strayed I safe, for all around 

Hunters and horsemen scoured the ground. 

This youth, though still a royal ward, 

Risked life and land to be my guard, 365 

And through the passes of the wood 

Guided my steps, not unpursued ; 

And Roderick shall his welcome make, 

Despite old spleen, for Douglas' sake. 

Then must he seek Strath-Endrick glen, 370 

Nor peril aught for me again. 11 

XVII 

Sir Roderick, who to meet them came, 
Reddened at sight of Malcolm Graeme, 



The Lady of the Lake 45 

Yet, not in action, word, or eye, 

Failed aught in hospitality. 375 

In talk and sport they whiled away 

The morning of that summer day; 

But at high noon a courier light 

Held secret parley with the knight, 

Whose moody aspect soon declared 380 

That evil were the news he heard. 

Deep thought seemed toiling in his head; 

Yet was the evening banquet made 

Ere he assembled round the flame 

His mother, Douglas, and the Graeme, 385 

And Ellen too ; then cast around 

His eyes, then fixed them on the ground, 

As studying phrase that might avail 

Best to convey unpleasant tale. 

Long with his dagger's hilt he played, 390 

Then raised his haughty brow, and said : — 

xvui 

"Short be my speech; — nor time affords, 

Nor my plain temper, glozing words. 

Kinsman and father, — if such name 

Douglas vouchsafe to Roderick's- claim ; 395 

Mine honored mother; — Ellen, — why, 

My cousin, turn away thine eye? — 

And Graeme, in whom I hope to know 

Full soon a noble friend or foe, 

When age shall give thee thy command, 400 

And leading in thy native land, — 

List all ! — The King's vindictive pride 

Boasts to have tamed the Border-side, 

Where chiefs, with hound and hawk who came 

To share their monarch's sylvan game, 405 

Themselves in bloody toils were snared, 



46 The Lady of the Lake 

And when the banquet they prepared, 

And wide their loyal portals flung, 

O'er their own gateway struggling hung. 

Loud cries their blood from Meggat's mead, 410 

From Yarow braes and banks of Tweed, 

Where the lone streams of Ettrick glide, 

And from the silver Teviot's side ; 

The dales, where martial clans did ride, 

Are now one sheep-walk, waste and wide. 415 

This tyrant of the Scottish throne, 

So faithless and so ruthless known, 

Now hither comes; his end the same, 

The same pretext of sylvan game. 

What grace for Highland Chiefs, judge ye 420 

By fate of Border chivalry. 

Yet more; amid Glenfinlas' green, 

Douglas, thy stately form was seen. 

This by espial sure I know : 

Your counsel in the streight I show. 11 425 

XIX 

Ellen and Margaret fearfully 

Sought comfort in each other's eye, 

Then turned their ghastly look, each one, 

This to her sire, that to her son. 

The hasty color went and came 430 

In the bold cheek of Malcolm Graeme, 

But from his glance it well appeared 

'T was but for Ellen that he feared; 

While, sorrowful, but undismayed, 

The Douglas thus his counsel said : 435 

"Brave Roderick, though the tempest roar, 

It may but thunder and pass o'er; 

Nor will I here remain an hour, 

To draw the lightning on thy bower; 



The Lady of the Lake 47 

For well thou know'st, at this gray head 440 

The royal bolt was fiercest sped. 

For thee, who, at thy King's command, 

Canst aid him with a gallant band, 

Submission, homage, humbled pride, 

Shall turn the Monarch's wrath aside. 445 

Poor remnants of the Bleeding Heart, 

Ellen and I will seek apart 

The refuge of some forest cell, 

There, like the hunted quarry, dwell, 

Till on the mountain and the moor 450 

The stern pursuit be passed and o'er," — 



xx 



"No, by mine honor," Roderick said, 

"So help me Heaven, and my good blade! 

No, never! Blasted be yon Pine, 

My father's ancient crest and mine, 455 

If from its shade in danger part 

The lineage of the Bleeding Heart! 

Hear my blunt speech: grant me this maid 

To wife, thy counsel to mine aid; 

To Douglas, leagued with Roderick Dhu, 460 

Will friends and allies flock enow; 

Like cause of doubt, distrust, and grief, 

Will bind to us each Western Chief. 

When the loud pipes my bridal tell, 

The Links of Forth shall hear the knell, 465 

The guards shall start in Stirling's porch; 

And when I light the nuptial torch, 

A thousand villages in flames 

Shall scare the slumbers of King James ! — 

Nay, Ellen, blench not thus away, 470 

And, mother, cease these signs, I pray ; 

I meant not all my heat might say. — 



48 The Lady of the Lake 

Small need of inroad or of fight, 

When the sage Douglas may unite 

Each mountain clan in friendly band, 475- 

To guard the passes of their land, 

Till the foiled King from pathless glen 

Shall bootless turn him home again." 

XXI 

-There are who have, at midnight hour, 480 

In slumber scaled a dizzy tower, 

And, on the verge that beetled o'er 

The ocean tide's incessant roar, 

Dreamed calmly out their dangerous dream, 

Till wakened by the morning beam; 485 

When, dazzled by the eastern glow, 

Such startler cast his glance below, 

And saw unmeasured depth around, 

And heard un intermitted sound, 

And thought the battled fence so frail, 490 

It waved like cobweb in the gale; — 

Amid his senses' giddy wheel 1 , 

Did he not desperate impulse feel, 

Headlong to plunge himself below, 

And meet the worst his fears foreshow? 495 

Thus Ellen, dizzy and astound, 

As sudden ruin yawned around, 

By crossing terrors wildly tossed, 

Still for the Douglas fearing most, 

Could scarce the desperate thought withstand, 500 

To buy his safety with her hand. 

XXII 

Such purpose dread could Malcolm spy 
In Ellen's quivering lip and eye, 
And eager rose to speak, — but ere 



The Lady of the Lake 49 

His tongue could hurry forth his fear, 505 

Had Douglas marked the hectic strife, 

Where death seemed combating with life ; 

For to her cheek, in feverish flood, 

One instant rushed the throbbing blood, 

Then ebbing back, with sudden sway, 510 

Left its domain as wan as clay. 

"Roderick, enough ! enough !' he cried, 

"My daughter cannot be thy bride ; 

Not that the blush to wooer dear, 

Nor paleness that of maiden fear. 515 

It may not be, — forgive her, Chief, 

Nor hazard aught for our relief. 

Against his sovereign, Douglas ne'er 

Will level a rebellious spear. 

'T was I that taught his youthful hand 520 

To rein a steed and wield a brand; 

I see him yet, the princely boy ! 

Not Ellen more my pride and joy; 

I love him still, despite my wrongs 

By hasty wrath and slanderous tongues. 525 

0, seek the grace you well may find, 

Without a cause to mine combined!' 

XXIII 

Twice through the hall the Chieftain strode ; 

The waving of his tartans broad, 

And darkened brow, where wounded pride 530 

With ire and disappointment vied, 

Seemed, by the torch's gloomy light, 

Like the ill Demon of the night, 

Stooping his pinions' shadowy sway 

Upon the nighted pilgrim's way; 535 

But, unrequited Love! thy dart 



50 The Lady of the Lake 

Plunged deepest its envenomed smart, 

And Roderick, with thine anguish stung, 

At length the hand of Douglas wrung, 

While eyes that mocked at tears before 540 

With hitter drops were running o'er. 

The death-pangs of long-cherished hope 

Scarce in that ample breast had scope, 

But, struggling with his spirit proud, 

Convulsive heaved its checkered shroud, 545 

While every sol> — so mute were all — 

Was heard distinctly through the hall. 

The son's despair, the mother's look, 

111 might the gentle Ellen brook; 

She rose, and to her side there came, 550 

To aid her parting steps, the Graeme. 

xxiv 

Then Roderick from the Douglas broke — 

As flashes flame through sable smoke. 

With stalwart grasp his hand he laid 

On Malcolm's breast and belted plaid: 555 

''Back, beardless boy!" he sternly said, 

"Back, minion! holdst thou thus at naught. 

The lesson I so lately taught? 

This roof, the Douglas, and that maid, 

Thank thou for punishment delayed,' 1 560 

Eager as greyhound on his game, 

Fiercely with Roderick grappled Graeme. 

"Perish my name, if aught afford 

Its Chieftain safety save his sword!' 1 

Thus as they strove their desperate hand 565 

Griped to the dagger or the brand. 

And death had been — but Douglas rose, 

And thrust between the struggling foes, 



The Lady of the Lake 51 

His giant strength: — "Chieftains, forego! 

I hold the first who strikes my foe. 570 

Madmen, forbear your frantic jar! 

What! is the Douglas fallen so far, 

His daughter's hand is deemed the spoil 

Of such dishonorable broil?" 

Sullen and slowly they unclasp, 575 

As struck with shame, I heir desperate grasp, 

And each upon his rival glared, 

With foot advanced and blade half bared. 

XXV 

Ere yet the brands aloft were flung, 

Margaret on Roderick's mantle hung, 580 

Ami Malcolm heard his Ellen's scream, 

As faltered through terrific dream. 

Then Roderick plunged in sheath his sword, 

And veiled his wrath in scornful word: 

"Rest safe till morning; pity 't were 585 

Such cheek should feel the midnight air! 

Malise, what ho!" — his henchman came: 

"Give our safe-conduct to the Granne." 

Young Malcolm answered, calm and bold : 

"Fear nothing for thy favorite hold ; 590 

The spot an angle deigned to grace 

Is blessed, though robbers haunt the place. 

Thy churlish courtesy for those 

Reserve, who fear to be thy foes. 

As safe to me the mountain way 595 

At midnight as in blaze of day, 

Though with his boldest at his back 

Even Roderick Dim beset the track. — 

Brave Douglas, — lovely Ellen, — nay, 

Naught here of parting will I say. 600 



52 The Lady of the Lake 

Earth does not hold a lonesome glen 
So secret but we meet again. — 
Chieftain! we too shall find an hour," — 
He said, and left the sylvan bower. 

XXVI 

Old Allan followed to the strand— 605 

Such was the Douglas's command — 

And anxious told, how, on the morn, 

The stern Sir Roderick deep had sworn 

The Fiery Cross should circle o'er 

Dale, glen, and valley, down and moor. 610 

Much were the peril to the Graeme 

From those who to the signal came; 

Far up the lake 't were safest land, 

Himself would row him to the strand 

He gave his counsel to the wind, 615 

While Malcolm did, unheeding, bind, 

Round dirk and pouch and broadsword rolled, 

His ample plaid in tightened fold, 

And stripped his limbs to such array 

As best might suit the watery way, — 620 

XXVII 

Then spoke abrupt : "Farewell to thee, 

Pattern of old fidelity!" 

The Minstrel's hand he kindly pressed, — 

"O, could I point a place of rest ! 

My sovereign holds in ward my land, 625 

My uncle leads my vassal band; 

To tame his foes, his friends to aid, 

Poor Malcolm has but heart and blade. 

Yet, if there be one faithful Graeme 

Who loves the chieftain of his name, 630 



The Lady of the Lake 



53 



Not long shall honored Douglas dwell 

Like hunted stag in mountain cell; 

Nor, ere yon pride-swollen robber dare, — 

I may not give the rest to air! 

Tell Roderick Dhu I owed him naught, 635 

Not the poor service of a boat, 

To waft me to yon mountain-side." 

Then plunged he in the flashing tide. 

Bold o'er the flood his head he bore, 

And stoutly steered him from the shore; 640 

And Allan strained his anxious eye, 

Far mid the lake Ins form to spy, 

Darkening across each puny wave, 

To which the moon her silver gave. 

Fast as the cormorant could skim, 645 

The swimmer plied each active limb; 

Then landing in the moonlight dell, 

Loud shouted of his weal to tell 

The Minstrel heard the far halloo, 

And joyful from the shore withdrew. 650 



54 The Lady of the Lake 



CANTO THIRD 
THE GATHERING 

The third canto is devoted almost entirely to the 
gathering of the clan, and has but little connection 
with the general trend of the story. The gathering 
is accomplished by sending a special messenger to bear 
the fiery cross through the domain over which Roderick 
Dhu held sway. Concerning this symbol of destruc- 
tion and death, Scott says : 

"When a chieftain designed to summon his clan, 
upon any sudden or important emergency, he slew a 
goat, and making a cross of any light wood, seared its 
extremities in the fire, and extinguished them in the 
blood of the animal. This was called the Fiery Cross, 
also Crean Tarigh, or the Cross of Shame, because 
disobedience to what the symbol implied, inferred in- 
famy. It was delivered to a swift and trusty messen- 
ger, who ran full speed with it to the next hamlet, where 
he presented it to the principal person, with a single 
word, implying the place of rendezvous. He who re- 
ceived the symbol was bound to send it forward, with 
equal dispatch, to the next village; and thus it passed 
with incredible celerity through all the district which 
owed allegiance to the chief, and also among his allies 
and neighbors, if the danger was common to them. At 
sight of the Fiery Cross, every man, from sixteen years 
old to sixty, capable of bearing arms, was obliged 
instantly to repair, in his best arms and accoutrements, 
to the place of rendezvous. He who failed to appear 
suffered the extremities of fire and sword, which were 
emblematically denounced to the disobedient by the 



The Lady of the Lake 55 

bloody and burnt marks upon this warlike signal. Dur- 
ing the civil war of 1745-6, the Fiery Cross often made 
its circuit; and upon one occasion it passed through the 
whole district of Breadalbane, a tract of thirty-two 
miles, in three hours. The late Alexander Stewart, 
Esq., of Invernahyle, described to me his having sent 
round the Fiery Cross through the district of Appine, 
during the same commotion. The coast was threatened 
by a descent from two English frigates, and the flower 
of the young men were with the army of Prince Charles 
Edward, then in England; yet the summons was so 
effectual that even old age and childhood obeyed it; 
and a force was collected in a few hours, so numerous 
and so enthusiastic, that all attempt at the intended 
diversion upon the country of the absent warriors was 
in prudence abandoned, as desperate." 

The effect on this occasion is expressed in the fol- 
lowing lines of the poem: 

Each valley, each sequestered glen, 

Mustered its little horde of men, 

That met as torrents from the height 

In Highland dales their streams unite, 

Still gathering, as they pour along, 

A voice more loud, a tide more strong, 

Till at the rendezvous they stood 

By hundreds prompt for blows and blood ; 

Each trained to arms since life began, 

Owning no tie but to his clan, 

No oath but by his chieftain's hand, 

No law but Roderick Dhu's command. 

Meantime Douglas, Ellen and the old minstrel leave 
the island and seek shelter in Goblin's cave, a weird 
nook in a steep hollow on the side of Benvenue, and 
overhanging the southeastern extremity of Loch Kat- 



56 The Lady of the Lake 

rine. The place was so wild that it was shunned by 
the ignorant and superstitious Highlanders, who be- 
lieved it to be the abode of evil spirits. For this reason 
it afforded Douglas a safe retreat. 

Malise, who started with the fiery cross, soon passed 
his ensign on to another and departed for the border to 
discover and report on the number and location of the 
enemy. Roderick makes provision for the safety of the 
women, children and old men of the clan, by placing 
them on an island and mooring all the boats on its 
shores, so they cannot be reached by the enemy in case 
Clan Alpine is defeated in the expected battle. He 
sends his followers forward to the designated meeting 
place, and, attended by a single page to bear his sword, 
lingers behind to investigate conditions at Goblin's cave. 
As he approaches he hears Ellen singing the Ave Maria, 
and feels that it is the last time he shall hear her voice. 
After listening for a short time he departs with a heavy 
heart, and without letting his presence be known, and 
joins his men. 



The Lady of the Lake 57 



CANTO FOURTH 
THE PROPHECY 

During the night Brian, the priest, tries by a weird 
augury to foretell which party will win the coming 
battle. Roderick sleeps apart from his men and in the 
middle of the night he is aroused by Brian, who tells 
him that after fearful experience he has learned the 
sequel to the fight, which is stated in these words: 
"Which spills the foremost foeman's life 
That party conquers in the strife." 

Roderick is pleased with this announcement, and tells 
Brian that he is certain of victory, for a spy had 
sought his land that morning and was being conducted 
to an ambush where he was sure to be slain by some of 
Roderick's men. This spy was Fitz James. During 
the conversation Malise returns. When questioned by 
Roderick concerning the foe, he replies : 

i 
"At Doune, o'er many a spear and glaive 
Two Barons proud their banners wave. 
I saw the Moray's silver star, 
And marked the sable pale of Mar." 
"By Alpine's soul, high tidings those ! 5 

I love to hear of worthy foes. 
When move they on?" "To-morrow's noon 
Will see them here for battle boune." 
"Then shall it see a meeting stern ! 

But, for the place, — say, couldst thou learn 10 

Nought of the friendly clans of Earn? 
Strengthened by them, we well might bide 
The battle on Benledi's side. 



58 The Lady of the Lake 

Thou couldst not? — well! Clan- Alpine's men 

Shall man the Trosachs' shaggy glen ; 15 

Within Loch Katrine's gorge we'll fight, 

All in our maids' and matrons' sight, 

Each for his hearth and household fire, 

Father for child, and son for sire, 

Lover for maid beloved! — But why — 20 

Is it the breeze affects mine eye? 

Or dost thou come, ill-omened tear! 

A messenger of doubt or fear? 

No! sooner may the Saxon lance 

Unfix Benledi from his stance, 25 

Than doubt or terror can pierce through 

The unyielding heart of Roderick Dhu ! 

'Tis stubborn as his trusty targe. 

Each to his post ! — All know their charge.' ' 

The pibroch sounds, the bands advance, 30 

The broadswords gleam, the banners dance, 

Obedient to the Chieftain's glance. — 

I turn me from the martial roar, 

And seek Coir-Uriskin once more. 

Where is the Douglas? — he is gone; 35 

And Ellen sits on the gray stone 

Fast by the cave, and makes her moan, 

While vainly Allan's words of cheer 

Are poured on her unheeding ear. 

"He will return 1 — dear lad} r , trust! 40 

With joy return; — he will — he must. 

Well was it time to seek afar 

Some refuge from impending war. 

When e'en Clan-Alpine's rugged swarm 

Are cowed by the approaching storm. 45 

I saw their boats with many a light, 

Floating the livelong yesternight, 

Shifting like flashes darted forth 



The Lady of the Lake 59 

By the red streamers of the north; 

I marked at morn how close they ride, 50 

Thick moored by the lone islet's side, 

Like wild ducks couching in the fen 

When swoops the hawk upon the glen. 

Since this rude race dare not abide 

The peril on the mainland side, 55 

Shall not thy noble father's care 

Some safe retreat for thee prepare?" 

u 

"No, Allan, no ! Pretext so kind 

My wakeful terrors could not blind. 

When in such tender tone, yet grave, 60 

Douglas a parting blessing gave, 

The tear that glistened in his eye 

Drowned not his purpose fixed and high. 

My soul though feminine and weak, 

Can image his ; e'en as the lake, 65 

Itself disturbed by slightest stroke, 

Reflects the invulnerable rock. 

He hears report of battle rife, 

He deems himself the cause of strife. 

I saw him redden when the theme 70 

Turned, Allan, on thine idle dream 

Of Malcolm Graeme in fetters bound, 

Which I, thou saidst, about him wound. 

Think'st thou he trowed thine omen aught? 

O no ! 't was apprehensive thought 75 

For the kind youth, — for Roderick too — 

Let me be just — that friend so true; 

In danger both, and in our cause! 

Minstrel, the Douglas dare not pause. 

Why else that solemn warning given, 80 

'If not on earth, we meet in heaven!' 



60 The Lady of the Lake 

Why else, to Cambus-kenneth's fane, 

If eve return him not again, 

Am I to hie and make me known? 

Alas ! he goes to Scotland's throne, 85 

Buys his friends' safety with his own ; 

He goes to do — what I had done, 

Had Douglas' daughter been his son!" 

in 
"Nay, lovely Ellen ! — dearest, nay ! 

If aught should his return delay, 90 

He only named yon holy fane 
As fitting place to meet again. 
Be sure he's safe; and for the Graeme, — 
Heaven's blessing on his gallant name ! — 
My visioned sight may yet prove true, 95 

Nor bode of ill to him or you. 
When did my gifted dream beguile? 
Think of the stranger at the isle, 
And think upon the harpings slow 

That pressaged this approaching woe! 100 

Sooth was my prophecy of fear; 
Believe it when it augurs cheer. 
Would we had left this dismal spot! 
Ill luck still haunts a fairy grot. 

Of such a wondrous talc I know — 105 

Dear lady, change that look of woe, 
My harp was wont thy grief to cheer." 
"Well, be it as thou wilt; I hear, 
But cannot stop the bursting tear.' ' 

The minstrel tried his simple art, 110 

But distant far was Ellen's heart. 

IV 

Just as the minstrel sounds were stayed, 
A stranger climbed the steepy glade; 



The Lady of the Lake 61 

His martial step, his stately mein, 

His bunting-suit of Lincoln green, 115 

His eagle glance, remembrance claims — 

'T is Snowdoun's Knight, 't is James Fitz-James. 

Ellen beheld as in a dream, 

Then, starting, scarce suppressed a scream: 

"O stranger! in such hour of fear 19.0 

What evil hap has brought thee here?" 

"An evil hap how can it be 

That bids me look again on thee? 

By promise bound, my former guide 

Met me betimes this morning-tide, 125 

And marshalled over bank and bourne 

The happy path of my return.''' 

"The happy path! — what! said he naught 

Of war, of battle to be fought. 

Of guarded pass?'"' "No, by my faith! 130 

Nor saw I aught could augur scathe.' ' 

"O haste thee, Allan, to the kern: 

Yonder his tartans I discern; 

Learn thou his purpose, and conjure 

That he will guide the stranger sure! 135 

What prompted thee, unhappy man? 

The meanest serf in Roderick's clan 

Had not been bribed, by love or fear, 

Unknown to him to guide thee here." 



"Sweet Ellen, dear my life must be, 140 

Since it is worthy care from thee; 

Yet life I hold but idle breath 

When love or honor's weighed with death. 

Then let me profit by my chance, 

And speak my purpose bold at once. 145 

I come to bear thee from a wild 



62 The Lady of the Lake 

Where ne'er before such blossom smiled, 

By this soft hand to lead thee far 

From frantic scenes of feud and war. 

Near Bochastle my horses wait ; 1 50 

They bear us soon to Stirling gate, 

I'll place thee in a lovely bower; 

I'll guard thee like a tender flower — " 

"O hush, Sir Knight ! 't were female art, 

To say I do not read thy heart; 155 

Too much, before, my selfish ear 

Was idly soothed my praise to hear. 

That fatal bait hath lured thee back, 

In deathful hour, o'er dangerous track; 

And how, O how, can I atone 1 60 

The wreck my vanity brought on ! — 

One way remains — I'll tell him all — 

Yes ! struggling bosom, forth it shall ! 

Thou, whose light folly bears the blame, 

Buy thine own pardon with thy shame! 165 

But first — my father is a man 

Outlawed and exiled, under ban; 

The price of blood is on his head, 

With me 't were infamy to wed. 

Still wouldst thou speak? — then hear the truth! 170 

Fitz-James, there is a noble youth — 

If he yet is ! — exposed for me 

And mine to dread extremity — 

Thou hast the secret of my heart; 

Forgive, be generous, and depart !' ' 175 

VI 

Fitz-James knew every wily train 
A lady's fickle heart to gain, 
But here he knew and felt them vain. 
There shot no glance from Ellen's eye, 



The Lady of the Lake 63 

To give her steadfast speech the lie; 180 

In maiden confidence she stood, 

Though mantled in her cheek the blood, 

And told her love with such a sigh 

Of deep and hopeless agony ; 

As death had sealed her Malcolm's doom 185 

And she sat sorrowing on his tomb. 

Hope vanished from Fitz-James's eye, 

But not with hope fled sympathy. 

He proffered to attend her side, 

As brother would a sister guide. 190 

"O little know'st thou Roderick's heart! 

Safer for both we go apart. 

O haste thee, and from Allan learn 

If thou mayst trust yon wily kern.' 1 

With hand upon his forehead laid, 195 

The conflict of his mind to shade, 

A parting step or two he made; 

Then, as some thought had crossed his brain, 

He paused, and turned, and came again. 



"Hear, lady, yet a parting word! — 200 

It chanced in fight that my poor sword 

Preserved the life of Scotland's lord. 

This ring the grateful Monarch gave, 

And bade, when I had boon to crave, 

To bring it back, and boldty claim 205 

The recompense that I would name. 

Ellen, I am no courtly lord, 

But one who lives by lance and sword, 

Whose castle is his helm and shield, 

His lordship the embattled field. 210 

What from a prince can I demand, 

Who neither reck of state nor land? 



64 The Lady of the Lake 

Ellen, thy hand — the ring is thine; 

Each guard and usher knows the sign. 

Seek thou the King without delay; 215 

This signet shall secure thy way: 

And claim thy suit, whate'er it be 

As ransom of his pledge to me.' 

He placed the golden circlet on, 

Paused — kissed her hand — and then was gone. 220 

The aged Minstrel stood aghast, 

So hastily Fitz-James shot past. 

He joined his guide, and wending down 

The ridges of the mountain brown, 

Across the stream they took their way 225 

That joins Loch Katrine to Achray. 

vui 

All in the Trosachs' glen was still, 

Noontide was sleeping on the hill: 

Sudden his guide whooped loud and high — 

"Murdoch! was that a signal cry?" 230 

He stammered forth, "I shout to scare 

Yon raven from his dainty fare." 

He looked — he knew the raven's prey, 

His own brave steed : "Ah ! gallant gray ! 

For thee — for me, perchance — t'were well 235 

We ne'er had seen the Trosachs' dell. — 

Murdoch, move first — but silently ; 

Whistle or whoop, and thou shalt die!" 

Jealous and sullen on they fared, 

Each silent, each upon his guard. 240 

rx 

Now wound the path its dizzy ledge 
Around a precipice's edge, 
When lo! a wasted female form, 



The Lady of the Lake 65 

Blighted by wrath of sun and storm, 

In tattered weeds and wild array, 245 

Stood on a cliff beside the way, 

And glancing round, her restless eye 

Upon the wood, the rock, the sky, 

Seemed naught to mark, yet all to spy. 

Her brow was wreathed with gaudy broom; 250 

With gesture wild she waved a plume 

Of feathers, which the eagles fling 

To crag and cliff from dusky wing ; 

Such spoils her desperate step had sought, 

Where scarce was footing for the goat. 255 

The tartan plaid she first descried, 

And shrieked till all the rocks replied; 

As loud she laughed when near they drew, 

For then the Lowland garb she knew ; 

And then her hands she wildly wrung, 260 

And then she wept, and then she sung — 

She sung! — the voice, in better time, 

Perchance to harp or lute might chime; 

And now, though strained and roughened, still 

Rung wildly sweet to dale and hill. 265 



"Who is this maid? what means her 'lay? 

She hovers o'er the hollow way, 

And flutters wide her mantle gray, 

As the lone heron spreads his wing, 

By twilight, o'er a hunted spring." 270 

"'Tis Blanche of Dcvan," Murdoch said, 

"A crazed and captive Lowland maid, 

Ta'en on the morn she was a bride, 

When Roderick fora} T ed Devan-side. 

The gay bridegroom resistance made, 275 

And felt our Chief's unconquered blade. 



66 The Lady of the Lake 

I marvel she is now at large, 

But oft she 'scapes from Maudlin's charge. — 

Hence, brain-sick fool!" — He raised his bow: — 

"Now, if thou strik'st her but one blow, 280 

I'll pitch thee from the cliff as far 

As ever peasant pitched a bar!" 

"Thanks, champion, thanks!" the Maniac cried, 

And pressed her to Fitz-James's side. 

"See the gray pennons I prepare, 285 

To seek my true love through the air! 

I will not lend that savage groom, 

To break his fall, one downy plume! 

No! — deep amid disjointed stones, 

The wolves shall batten on his bones, 290 

And then shall his detested plaid, 

By bush and brier in mid-air stayed, 

Wave forth a banner fair and free, 

Meet signal for their revelry." 

XI 

"Hush thee, poor maiden, and be still !" 295 

"O ! thou look'st kindly, and I will. 

Mine eye has dried and wasted been, 

But still it loves the Lincoln green; 

And, though mine ear is all unstrung, 

StiE, still it loves the Lowland tongue. 300 

"For O my sweet William was forester true, 

He stole poor Blanche's heart away ! 
His coat it was all of the greenwood hue, 

And so blithely he trilled the Lowland lay ! 

"It was not that I meant to tell ... 305 

But thou art wise and guessest well." 
Then, in a low and broken tone, 
And hurried note, the song went on. 



The Lady of the Lake 67 

Still on the Clansman fearfully 

She fixed her apprehensive eye, 310 

Then turned it on the Knight, and then 

Her look glanced wildly o'er the glen. 

XII 

Fitz-James's mind was passion-tossed, 

When Ellen's hints and fears were lost; 

But Murdoch's shout suspicion wrought, 315 

And Blanche's song conviction brought. 

Not like a stag that spies the snare, 

But lion of the hunt aware, 

He waved at once his blade on high, 

"Disclose thy treachery, or die!" 320 

Forth at full speed the Clansman flew, 

But in his race his bow he drew. 

The shaft just grazed Fitz-James's crest, 

And thrilled in Blanche's faded breast. — 

Murdoch of Alpine! prove thy speed, 325 

For ne'er had Alpine's son such need; 

With heart of fire, and foot of wind, 

The fierce avenger is behind ! 

Fate judges of the rapid strife — 

The forfeit death — the prize is life; 330 

Thy kindred ambush lies before, 

Close couched upon the heathery moor; 

Them couldst thou reach! — it may not be — 

Thine ambushed kin thou ne'er shalt see, 

The fiery Saxon gains on thee! — 335 

Resistless speeds the deadly thrust, 

As lightning strikes the pine to dust; 

With foot and hand Fitz-James must strain 

Ere he can win his blade again. 

Bent o'er the fallen with falcon eye, 340 

He grimly smiled to see him die, 



68 The Lady of the Lake 

Then slower wended back his way, 
Where the poor maiden bleeding lay. 

XIII 

She sat beneath the birchen tree, 

Her elbow resting on her knee; 345 

She had withdrawn the fatal shaft, 

And gazed on it, and feebly laughed; 

Her wreath of broom and feathers gray, 

Draggled with blood, beside her lay. 

The Knight to stanch the life-stream tried, — 350 

"Stranger, it is in vain !" she cried. 

"This hour of death has given me more 

Of reason's power than years before ; 

For, as these ebbing veins decay, 

My frenzied visions fade away. 355 

A helpless injured wretch I die, 

And something tells me in thine eye 

That thou wert mine avenger born. 

Seest thou this tress? — O, still I've worn 

This little tress of yellow hair, 360 

Through danger, frenzy, and despair! 

It once was bright and clear as thine, 

But blood and tears have dimmed its shine 

I will not tell thee when 'twas shred, 

Nor from what guiltless victim's head, 365 

My brain would turn ! — but it shall wave 

Like plumage on thy helmet brave, 

Till sun and wind shall bleach the stain, 

And thou wilt bring it me again. 

I waver still. — O God! more bright- 370 

Let reason beam her parting light!— 

O, by thy knighthood's honored sign, 

And for thy life preserved by mine, 

When thou shalt see a darksome man, 



The Lady of the Lake 69 

Who boasts him Chief of Alpine's Clan, 375 

With tartans broad and shadowy plume, 

And hand of blood, and brow of gloom, 

Be thy heart bold, thy weapon strong, 

And wreak poor Blanche of Devan's wrong! — 

They watch for thee by pass and fell . . . 380 

Avoid the path . . . O God! . . . farewell." 

XIV 

A kindly heart had brave Fitz- James; 

Fast poured his eyes at pity's claims; 

And now, with mingled grief and ire, 

He saw the murdered maid expire. 385 

"God, in my need, be my relief, 

As I wreak this on yonder Chief!" 

A lock from Blanche's tresses fair 

He blended with her bridegroom's hair; 

The mingled braid in blood he dyed, 390 

And placed it on his bonnet-side: 

"By Him whose word is truth, I swear, 

No other favor will I wear, 

Till this sad token I imbrue 

In the best blood of Roderick JDhu ! 395 

But hark! what means yon faint halloo? 

The chase is up — but they shall know, 

The stag at bay's a dangerous foe." 

Barred from the known but guarded way, 

Through copse and cliffs Fitz-James must stray, 400 

And oft must change his desperate track, 

By stream and precipice turned back. 

Heartless, fatigued, and faint, at length, 

From lack of food and loss of strength, 

He couched him in a thicket hoar, 405 

And thought his toils and perils o'er: — 

"Of all my rash adventures past, 



70 The Lady of the Lake 

This frantic feat must prove the last ! 

Who e'er so mad but might have guessed 

That all this Highland hornet's nest 410 

Would muster up in swarms so soon 

As e'er they heard of bands at Doune? — 

Like bloodhounds now they search me out, — 

Hark, to the whistle and the shout! — 

If farther through the wilds I go, 415 

I only fall upon the foe: 

I'll couch me here till evening gray, 

Then darkling try my dangerous way." 

xv 

The shades of eve come slowly down, 

The woods are wrapt in deeper brown, 420 

The owl awakens from her dell, 

The fox is heard upon the fell ; 

Enough remains of glimmering light 

To guide the wanderer's steps aright, 

Yet not enough from far to show 425 

His figure to the watchful foe. 

With cautious step and ear awake, 

He climbs the crag and threads the brake; 

And not the summer solstice there 

Tempered the midnight mountain air, 430 

But every breeze that swept the wold 

Benumbed his drenched limbs with cold. 

In dread, in danger, and alone, 

Famished and chilled, through ways unknown, 

Tangled and steep, he journeyed on; 435 

Till, as a rock's huge point he turned, 

A watch-fire close before him burned. 

XVI 

Beside its embers red and clear, 
Basked in his plaid a mountaineer; 



The Lady of the Lake 71 

And up he sprung with sword in hand, — 440 

"Thy name and purpose! Saxon, stand!" 

"A stranger." "What dost thou require?" 

"Rest and a guide, and food and fire. 

My life's beset, my path is lost, 

The gale has chilled my limbs with frost." 445 

"Art thou a friend to Roderick?" "No." 

"Thou dar'st not call thyself a foe?" 

"I dare! to him and all the band 

He brings to aid his murderous hand." 

"Bold words ! — but, though the beast of game 450 

The privilege of chase may claim, 

Though space and law the stag we lend, 

Ere hound we slip or bow we bend. 

Who ever recked, where, how, or when, 

The prowling fox was trapped or slain? 45 l 5 

Thus treacherous scouts — yet sure they lie, 

Who say thou cam'st a secret spy !" — 

"They do, by heaven ! — come Roderick Dhu, 

And of his clan the boldest two, 

And let me but till morning rest, 460 

I write the falsehood on their crest." 

"If by the blaze I mark aright, 

Thou bear'st the belt and spur of Knight." 

"Then by these tokens mayst thou know 

Each proud oppressor's mortal foe." 465 

"Enough, enough; sit down and share 

A soldier's couch, a soldier's fare." 

XVII 

He gave him of his Highland cheer, 

The hardened flesh of mountain deer; 

Dry fuel on the fire he laid, 470 

And bade the Saxon share his plaid. 

He tended him like welcome guest, 



72 The Lady of the Lake 

Then thus his further speech addressed: — 

"Stranger, I am to Roderick Dhu 

A clansman bom, a kinsman true; 475 

Each word against his honor spoke 

Demands of me avenging stroke ; 

Yet more, — upon thy fate, 't is said, 

A mighty augury is laid. 

It rests with me to wind my horn, — 480 

Thou art with numbers overborne ; 

It rests with me, here, brand to brand, 

Worn as thou art, to bid thee stand : 

But, not for clan, nor kindred's cause, 

Will I depart from honor's laws ; 485 

To assail a wearied man were shame, 

And stranger is a holy name ; 

Guidance and rest, and food and fire, 

In vain he never must require. 

Then rest thee here till dawn of day ; 490 

Myself will guide thee on the way, 

O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward, 

Till past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard, 

As far as Coilantogle's ford ; 

From thence they warrant is thy sword." 495 

"I take thy courtesy, by heaven, 

As freely as 'tis nobly given !" 

"Well, rest thee; for the bittern's cry 

Sings us the lake's wild lullaby." 

With that he shook the gathered heath, 500 

And spread his plaid upon the wreath ; 

And the brave foemen, side by side, 

Lay peaceful down like brothers tried, 

And slept until the dawning beam 

Purpled the mountain and the stream. 



The Lady of the Lake 73 



CANTO FIFTH 
THE COMBAT 
I 

Fair as the earliest beam of eastern light, 
When first, by the bewildered pilgrim spied, 
It smiles upon the dreary brow of night, 
And silvers o'er the torrent's foaming tide, 
And lights the fearful path on mountain-side, — 5 

Fair as that beam, although the fairest far, 
Giving to horror grace, to danger pride, 
Shine martial Faith, and Courtesy's bright star, 
Through all the wreckful storms that cloud the brow of 
War. 



That early beam, so fair and sheen, 10 

Was twinkling through the hazel screen, 

When, rousing at its glimmer red, 

The warriors left their lowly bed, 

Looked out upon the dappled sky, 

Muttered their soldier matins by, 15 

And then awaked their fire, to steal, 

As short and rude, their soldier meal. 

That o'er, the Gael around him threw 

His graceful plaid of varied hue, 

And, true to promise, led the way, 20 

By thicket green and mountain gray. 

A wildering path ! — They winded now 

Along the precipice's brow. 

'Twas oft so steep, the foot was fain 

Assistance from the hand to gain; 25 

So tangled oft that, bursting through, 



74 The Lady of the Lake 

Each hawthorn shed her showers of dew, — 
That diamond dew, so pure and clear, 
It rivals all but Beauty's tear ! 

in 

At length they came where, stern and steep, 30 

The hill sinks down upon the deep. 

Here Vennachar in silver flows, 

There, ridge on ridge, Benledi rose ; 

Ever the hollow path twined on, 

Beneath steep bank and threatening stone; 35 

A hundred men might hold the post 

With hardihood against a host. 

The rugged mountain's scanty cloak 

Was dwarfish shrubs of birch and oak, 

With shingles bare, and cliffs between, 40 

And patches bright of bracken green, 

And heather black, that waved so high, 

It held the copse in rivalry. 

So tuilsome was the road to trace, 

The guide, abating of his pace, 45 

Led slowly through the pass's jaws, 

And asked Fitz-James by what strange cause 

He sought these wilds, traversed by few, 

Without a pass from Roderick Dhu. 

IV 

"Brave Gael, my pass, in danger tried, 50 

Hangs in my belt and by my side ; 

Yet, sooth to tell," the Saxon said, 

"I dreamt not now to claim its aid. 

When here, but three days since, I came, 

Bewildered in pursuit of game, 55 

All seemed as peaceful and as still 

As the mist slumbering on yon hill; 

Thy dangerous Chief was then afar, 



The Lady of the Lake 75 

Nor soon expected back from war. 

Thus said, at least, my mountain-guide, 60 

Though deep perchance the villain lied." 

"Yet why a second venture try?" 

"A warrior thou, and ask me why ! — 

Moves our free course by such fixed cause 

As gives the poor mechanic laws? 65 

Enough, I sought to drive away 

The lazy hours of peaceful day ; 

Slight cause will then suffice to guide 

A Knight's free footsteps far and wide, — 

A falcon flown, a greyhound strayed, 70 

The merry glance of mountain maid; 

Or, if a path be dangerous known, 

The danger's self is lure alone." 



"Thy secret keep, I urge thee not; — 

Yet, ere again ye sought this spot, 75 

Say, heard ye naught of Lowland war, 

Against Clan-Alpine, raised by Mar?" 

"No, by my word; — of bands prepared 

To guard King James's sports I heard; 

Nor doubt I aught, but, when they hear 80 

This muster of the mountaineer, 

Their pennons will abroad be flung, 

Which else in Doune had peaceful hung." 

"Free by they flung ! for we were loath 

Their silken folds should feast the moth. 85 

Free by they flung ! — as free shall wave 

Clan-Alpine's pine in banner brave. 

But, stranger, peaceful since you came, 

Bewildered in the mountain-game, 

Whence the bold boast by which you show 90 

Vich- Alpine's vowed and mortal foe?" 



76 The Lady of the Lake 

"Warrior, but yester-morn I knew 

Naught of thy Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, 

Save as an outlawed desperate man, 

The chief of a rebellious clan, 95 

Who, in the Regent's court and sight, 

With ruffian dagger stabbed a knight; 

Yet this alone might from his part 

Sever each true and loyal heart." 

VI 

Wrathful at such arraignment foul, 100 

Dark lowered the clansman's sable scowl. 

A space he paused, then sternly said, 

"And heardst thou why he drew his blade? 

Heardst thou that shameful word and blow 

Brought Roderick's vengeance on his foe? 105 

What recked the Chieftain if he stood 

On Highland heath or Holy-Rood? 

He rights such wrong where it is given, 

If it were in the court of heaven." 

"Still was it outrage ; — yet, 't is true, 110 

Not then claimed sovereignty his due; 

While Albany with feeble hand 

Held borrowed truncheon of command, 

The young King, mewed in Stirling tower, 

Was stranger to respect and power. 115 

But then, thy Chieftain's robber life! — 

Winning mean prey by causeless strife, 

Wrenching from ruined Lowland swain 

His herds and harvest reared in vain, — 

Methinks a soul like thine should scorn 120 

The spoils from such foul foray borne." 

VII 

The Gael beheld him grim the while, 
And answered with disdainful smile: 



The Lady of the Lake 77 

"Saxon, from yonder mountain high, 

I marked thee send delighted eye 125 

Far to the south and east, where lay, 

Extended in succession gay, 

Deep waving fields and pastures green, 

With gentle slopes and groves between: — 

These fertile plains, that softened vale, 139 

Were once the birthright of the Gael; 

The stranger came with iron hand, 

And from our fathers reft the land. 

Where dwell we now? See, rudely swell 

Crag over crag, and fell o'er fell. 135 

Ask we this savage hill we tread 

For fattened steer or household bread, 

Ask we for flocks these shingles dry, 

And well the mountain might reply, — 

'To you, as to your sires of yore, 140 

Belong the target and claymore! 

I give you shelter in my breast, 

Your own good blades must win the rest.' 

Pent in this fortress of the North, 

Think'st thou we will not sally forth, 145 

To spoil the spoiler as we may, 

And from the robber rend the prey? 

Ay, by my soul ! — While on yon plain 

The Saxon rears one shock of grain, 

While of ten thousand herds there strays 150 

But one along yon river's maze, — 

The Gael, of plain and river heir, 

Shall with strong hand redeem his share. 

Where live the mountain Chiefs who hold 

That plundering Lowland field and fold 155 

Is aught but retribution true? 

Seek other cause 'gainst Roderick Dhu." 



78 The Lady of the Lake 

VIII 

Answered Fitz-James : "And, if I sought, 

Think'st thou no other could be brought? 

What deem ye of my path waylaid? 160 

My life given o'er to ambuscade?" 

"As of a meed to rashness due 

Hadst thou sent warning fair and true, — 

I seek my hound or falcon strayed, 

I seek, good faith, a Highland maid, — 165 

Free hadst thou been to come and go ; 

But secret path marks secret foe. 

Nor yet for this, even as a spy, 

Hadst thou, unheard, been doomed to die, 

Save to fulfil an augury." 170 

"Well, let it pass ; nor will I now 

Fresh cause of enmity avow, 

To chafe thy mood and cloud thy brow. 

Enough, I am by promise tied 

To match me with this man of pride: 175 

Twice have I sought Clan- Alpine's glen 

In peace ; but when I come again, 

I come with banner, brand, and bow, 

As leader seeks his mortal foe. 

For love-lorn swain in lady's bow T er 180 

Ne'er panted for the appointed hour, 

As I, until before me stand 

This rebel Chieftain and his band !" 

IX 

"Have then thy wish!" — He whistled shrill, 

And he was answered from the hill; 185 

Wild as the scream of the curlew, 

From crag to crag the signal fleAv. 

Instant, through copse and heath, arose 

Bonnets and spears and bended bows, 



The Lady of the Lake 79 

On right, on left, above, below, 190 

Sprung up at once the lurking foe; 

From shingles gray their lances start, 

The bracken bush sends forth the dart, 

The rushes and the willow-wand 

Are bristling into axe and brand, 195 

And every tuft of broom gives life 

To plaided warrior armed for strife. 

That whistle garrisoned the glen 

At once with full five hundred men, 

As if the yawning hill to heaven 200 

A subterranean host had given. 

Watching their leader's beck and will, 

All silent there they stood and still. 

Like the loose crags whose threatening mass 

Lay tottering o'er the hollow pass, 205 

As if an infant's touch could urge 

Their headlong passage down the verge, 

With step and weapon forward flung, 

Upon the mountain-side they hung. 

The Mountaineer cast glance of pride 210 

Along Benledi's living side, 

Then fixed his eye and sable brow 

Full on Fitz- James: "How say'st thou now? 

These are Clan- Alpine's warriors true ; 

And, Saxon, — I am Roderick Dhu!" 215 

x 
Fitz- James was brave: — though to his heart 
The life-blood thrilled with sudden start, 
He manned himself with dauntless air, 
Returned the Chief his haughty stare, 
His back against a rock he bore, 220 

And firmly placed his foot before: — 
"Come one, come all ! this rock shall fly 
From its firm base as soon as I." 



80 The Lady of the Lake 

Sir Roderick marked, — and in his eyes 

Respect was mingled with surprise, 225 

And the stern joy which warriors feel 

In focman worthy of their steel. 

Short space he stood — then waved his hand : 

Down sunk the disappearing band ; 

Each warrior vanished where he stood, 230 

In broom or bracken, heath or wood ; 

Sunk brand and spear and bended bow, 

In osiers pale and copses low ; 

It seemed as if their mother Earth 

Had swallowed up her warlike birth. 235 

The wind's last breath had tossed in air 

Pennon and plaid and plumage fair, — 

The next but swept a lone hill-side, 

Where heath and fern were waving wide : 

The sun's last glance was glinted back 240 

From spear and glaive, from targe and jack, — 

The next, all unreflected, shown 

On bracken green and cold gray stone. 

XI 

Fitz-James looked round, — yet scarce believed 

The witness that his sight received ; 245 

Such apparition well might seem 

Delusion of a dreadful dream. 

Sir Roderick in suspense he eyed, 

And to his look the Chief replied : 

"Fear naught — nay, that I need not say — 250 

But — doubt not aught from mine array. 

Thou art my guest ; — I pledged my word 

As far as Coilantogle ford: 

Nor would I call a clansman's brand 

For aid against one valiant hand, 255 

Though on our strife lay every vale 

Rent bv the Saxon from the Gael. 



The Lady of the Lake 81 

So move we on; — I only meant 

To show the reed on which you leant, 

Deeming this path you might pursue 260 

Without a pass from Roderick Dhu." 

XII 

The Chief in silence strode before 

And reached that torrent's sounding shore, 

Which, daughter of three mighty lakes, 

From Vennacher in silver breaks, 265 

Sweeps through the plain, and ceaseless mines 

On Bochastle the mouldering lines, 

Where Rome, the Empress of the world, 

Of yore her eagle wings unfurled. 

An$ here his course the Chieftain stayed, 270 

Threw down his target and his plaid, 

And to the Lowland warrior said: 

"Bold Saxon! to his promise just, 

Vich-Alpine has discharged his trust. 

This murderous Chief, this ruthless man, 275 

This head of a rebellious clan, 

Hath led thee safe, through watch and ward, 

Far past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard. 

Now, man to man, and steel to steel, 

A Chieftain's vengeance thou shalt feel. 280 

See, here all vantageless I stand, 

Armed like thyself with single brand; 

For this is Coilantogle ford, 

And thou must keep thee with thy sword." 

XIII 

The Saxon paused: "I ne'er delayed, 285 

When f oeman bade me draw my blade ; 
Nay more, brave Chief, I vowed thy death; 
Yet sure thy fair and generous faith, 
And my deep debt for life preserved, 



82 The Lady of the Lake 

A better meed have well deserved: 290 

Can naught but blood our feud atone? 

Are there no means?" — "No, stranger, none! 

And hear, — to fire thy flagging zeal, — 

The Saxon cause rests on thy steel ; 

For thus spoke Fate by prophet bred 295 

Between the living and the dead: 

'Who spills the foremost foeman's life, 

His party conquers in the strife.' " 

"Then, by my word," the Saxon said, 

"The riddle is already read. 300 

Seek yonder brake beneath the cliff, — 

There lies Red Murdoch, stark and stiff. 

Thus Fate hath solved her prophecy; 

Then yield to Fate, and not to me. 

To James at Stirling let us go, 305 

When, if thou wilt be still his foe, 

Or if the King shall not agree 

To grant thee grace and favor free, 

I plight mine honor, oath, and word 

That, to thy native strengths restored, 310 

With each advantage shalt thou stand 

That aids thee now to guard thy land." 

XIV 

Dark lighting flashed from Roderick's eye: 

"Soars thy presumption, then, so high, 

Because a wretched kern ye slew, 315 

Homage to name to Roderick Dhu? 

He yields not, he, to man nor Fate ! 

Thou add'st but fuel to my hate ; — 

My clansman's blood demands revenge. 

Not yet prepared? — By heaven, I change 320 

My thought, and hold thy valor light 

As that of some vain carpet knight, 

Who ill deserved my courteous care, 



The Lady of the Lake 83 

And whose best boast is but to wear 

A braid of his fair lady's hair." 325 

"I thank thee, Roderick, for the word ! 

It nerves my heart, it steels my sword ; 

For I have sworn this braid to stain 

In the best blood that warms thy vein. 

Now, truce, farewell! and, ruth, begone! 330 

Yet think not that by thee alone, 

Proud Chief! can courtesy be shown; 

Though not from copse, or heath, cr cairn, 

Start at my whistle clansmen stern, 

Of this small horn one feeble-blast 335 

Would fearful odds against thee cast. 

But fear not — doubt not — which thou wilt — 

We try this quarrel hilt to hilt." 

Then each at once his falchion drew, 

Each on the ground his scabbard threw, 340 

Each looked to sun and stream and plain 

As what they ne'er might see again ; 

Then foot and point and eye opposed, 

In dubious strife they darkly closed. 

xv 
111 fared it then with Roderick Dhu, 345 

That on the field his targe he threw, 
Whose brazen studs and tough bull-hide 
Had death so often dashed aside; 
For, trained abroad his arms to wield, 
Fitz-James's blade was sword and shield. 350 

He practised every pass and ward, 
To thrust, to strike, to feint, to guard ; 
While less expert, though stronger far, 
The Gael maintained unequal war. 

Three times in closing strife they stood, 355 

And thrice the Saxon blade drank blood ; 
No stinted draught, no scanty tide, 



84 The Lady of the Lake 

The gushing flood the tartans dyed. 

Fierce Roderick felt the fatal drain, 

And showered his blows like wintry rain; 360 

And, as firm rock or castle-roof 

Against the winter shower is proof, 

The foe, invulnerable still, 

Foiled his wild rage by steady skill ; 

Till, at advantage ta'en, his brand 365 

Forced Roderick's weapon from his hand, 

And backward borne upon the lea, 

Brought the proud Chieftain to his knee. 

XVI 

"Now yield thee, or by Him who made 

The world, thy heart's blood dyes my blade !" 370 

"Thy threats, thy mercy, I defy ! 

Let recreant yield, who fears to die." 

Like adder darting from his coil, 

Like wolf that dashes through the toil, 

Like mountain-cat who guards her young, 375 

Full at Fitz- James's throat he sprung; 

Received, but recked not of a wound, 

And locked his arms his foeman round. — 

Now, gallant Saxon, hold thine own! 

No maiden's hand is round thee thrown ! 380 

That desperate grasp thy frame might feel 

Through bars of brass and triple steel ! 

They tug, they strain ! down, down they go, 

The Gael above, Fitz-James below. 

The Chieftain's gripe his throat compressed, 385 

His knee was planted on his breast; 

His Clotted locks he backward threw, 

Across his brow his hand he drew, 

From blood and mist to clear his sight, 

Then gleamed aloft his dagger bright! 390 

But hate and fury ill supplied 



The Lady of the Lake 85 

The stream of life's exhausted tide, 

And all too late the advantage came, 

To turn the odds of deadly game: 

For, while the dagger gleamed on high, 395 

Reeled soul and sense, reeled brain and eye. 

Down came the blow ! but in the heath 

The erring blade found bloodless sheath. 

The struggling foe may now unclasp 

The fainting Chief's relaxing grasp; 400 

Unwounded from the dreadful close, 

But breathless all, Fitz-James arose. 

XVII 

He faltered thanks to Heaven for life, 

Redeemed, unhoped, from desperate strife; 

Next on his foe his look he cast, 405 

Whose every gasp appeared his last; 

In Roderick's gore he dipped the kraid, — 

"Poor Blanche! thy wrongs are dearly paid; 

Yet with thy foe must die, or live, 

The praise that faith and valor give." 410 

With that he blew a bugle note, 

Undid the collar from his throat, 

Unbonneted, and by the wave 

Sat down his brow and hands to lave. 

Then faint afar are heard the feet 415 

Of rushing steeds in gallop fleet ; 

The sounds increase, and now are seen 

Four mounted squires in Lincoln green; 

Two who bear lance, and two who lead 

By loosened rein a saddled steed; 420 

Each onward held his headlong course, — 

And by Fitz-James reined up his horse, — 

With wonder viewed the bloody spot, — 

"Exclaim not, gallants ! question not. — 



86 The Lady of the Lake 

You, Herbert and Luffness, alight, 425 

And bind the wounds of yonder knight; 

Let the gray palfrey bear his weight, 

We destined for a fairer freight, 

And bring him on to Stirling straight ; 

I will before at better speed, 430 

To seek fresh horse and fitting weed. 

The sun rides high ; — I must be boune 

To see the archer-game at noon ; 

But lightly Bayard clears the lea. — 

De Vaux and Herries, follow me.' 1 435 

XVIII 

As up the flinty path they strained, 

Sudden his steed the leader reined ; 

A signal to his squire he flung, 

Who instant to his stirrup sprung: — 

"Seest thou, De Vaux, yon woodsman gray, 440 

Who townward holds the rocky way, 

Of stature tall and poor array? 

Mark'st thou the firm, yet active stride, 

With which he scales the mountain-side? 

Know'st thou from whence he comes, or whom?" 445 

"No, by my word; — a burly groom 

He seems, who in the field or chase 

A baron's train would nobly grace — " 

"Out, out, De Vaux ! can fear supply, 

And jealousy, no sharper eye? 450 

Afar, ere to the hill he drew, 

That stately form and step I knew; 

Like form in Scotland is not seen, 

Treads not such step on Scottish green. 

»T is James of Douglas, by Saint Serle ! 455 

The uncle of the banished Earl. 

Away, away, to court, to show 

The near approach of dreaded foe : 



The Lady of the Lake 87 

The King must stand upon his guard ; 
Douglas and he must meet prepared." 460 

Then right-hand wheeled their steeds, and straight 
They won the Castle's postern gate. 

XIX 

The Douglas, who had bent his way 

From Cambus-kenneth's abbey gray, 

Now, as he climbed the rocky shelf, 465 

Held sad communion with himself: — 

» 

"Yes ! all is true my fears could frame ; 

A prisoner lies the noble Graeme, 

And fiery Roderick soon will feel 

The vengeance of the royal steel. 470 

I, only I, can ward their fate, — 

God grant the ransom come not late ! 

The Abbess hath her promise given, 

My child shall be the bride of Heaven ; — 

Be pardoned one repining tear ! 475 

For He who gave her knows how dear, 

How excellent ! — but that is by, 

And now my business is — to die. — 

Ye towers ! within whose circuit dread 

A Douglas by his sovereign bled; 480 

And thou, O sad and fatal mound! 

That oft hast heard the death-axe sound, 

As on the noblest of the land 

Fell the stern headsman's bloody hand, — 

The dungeon, block, and nameless tomb 485 

Prepare — for Douglas seeks his doom ! 

But hark! what blithe and jolly peal 

Makes the Franciscan steeple reel? 

And see ! upon the crowded street, 

In motley groups what masquers meet ! 490 

Banner and pageant, pipe and drum, 

And merry morrice-dancers come. 



88 The Lady of the Lake 

I guess, by all this quaint array, 

The burghers hold their sports to-day. 

James will be there ; he loves such show, 495 

Where the good yeoman bends his bow, 

And the tough wrestler foils his foe, 

As well as where, in proud career, 

The high-born tilter shivers spear. 

I'll follow to the Castle-park, 500 

And play my prize; — King James shall mark 

If age has tamed these sinews stark, 

Whose force so oft in happier days 

His boyish wonder loved to praise." 

xx 

The Castle gates were open flung, 505 

The quivering drawbridge rocked and rung, 

And echoed loud the flinty street 

Beneath the coursers' clattering feet, 

As slowly down the steep descent 

Fair Scotland's King and nobles went, 510 

While all along the crowded way 

Was jubilee and loud huzza. 

And ever James was bending low 

To his white jennet's saddle-bow, 

Doffing his cap to city dame, 515 

Who smiled and blushed for pride and shame. 

And well the simperer might be vain, — 

He chose the fairest of the train. 

Gravely he greets each city sire, 

Commends each pageant's quaint attire, 520 

Gives to the dancers thanks aloud, 

And smiles and nods upon the crowd, 

Who rend the heavens with their acclaims, — 

"Long live the Commons' King ; King James !" 

Behind the King thronged peer and knight, 525 



The Lady of the Lake 89 

And noble dame and damsel bright, 

Whose fiery steeds ill brooked the stay 

Of the steep street and crowded way. 

But in the train you might discern 

Dark lowering brow and visage stern; 530 

There nobles mourned their pride restrained, 

And the mean burgher's joys disdained; 

And chiefs, who, hostage for their clan, 

Were each from home a banished man, 

There thought upon their own gray tower, 535 

Their waving woods, their feudal power, 

And deemed themselves a shameful part 

Of pageant which they cursed in heart. 

XXI 

Now, in the Castle-park, drew out 

Their checkered bands the joyous rout. 540 

There morricers, with bell at heel 

And blade in hand, their mazes wheel ; 

But chief, beside the butts, there stand 

Bold Robin Hood and all his band, — 

Friar Tuck with quarterstaffand cowl, 545 

Old Scathelocke with his surly scowl, 

Maid Marian, fair as ivory bone, 

Scarlet, and Mutch, and Little John; 

Their bugles challenge all that will, 

In archery to prove their skill. 550 

The Douglas bent a bow of might, — 

His first shaft centered in the white, 

And when in turn he shot again, 

His second split the first in twain. 

From the King's hand must Douglas take 555 

A silver dart, the archer's stake ; 

Fondly he watched, with watery eye, 

Some answering glance of sympathy, — 



90 The Lady of the Lake 

N o kind emotion made reply ! 

Indifferent as to archer wight, 560 

The monarch gave the arrow bright. 

XXII 

Now clear the ring ! for, hand to hand, 

The manly wrestlers take their stand. 

Two o'er the rest superior rose, 565 

And proud demanded mightier foes, — 

Nor called in vain, for Douglas came. — 

For life is Hugh of Larbert lame ; 

Scarce better John of Alloa's fare, 

Whom senseless home his comrades bare. 570 

Prize of the wrestling match, the King 

To Douglas gave a golden ring, 

While coldly glanced his eye of blue, 

As frozen drop of wintry dew. 

Douglas would speak, but in his breast 575 

His struggling soul his words suppressed; 

Indignant then he turned him where 

Their arms the brawny yeomen bare, 

To hurl the massive bar in air. 

When each his utmost strength had shown, 580 

The Douglas rent an earth-fast stone 

From its deep bed, then heaved it high, 

And sent the fragment through the sky 

A rood beyond the farthest mark; 

And still in Stirling's royal park, 585 

The gray-haired sires, who know the past, 

To strangers point the Douglas cast, 

And moralize on the decay 

Of Scottish strength in modern day. 

XXIII 

The vale with loud applauses rang, 590 

The Ladies' Rock sent back the clang. 



The Lady of the Lake 91 

The King, with look unmoved, bestowed 

A. purse well filled with pieces broad. 

Indignant smiled the Douglas proud, 

And threw the gold among the crowd, 595 

Who now with anxious wonder scan, 

And sharper glance, the dark gray man; 

Till whispers rose among the throng, 

That heart so free, and hand so strong, 

Must to the Douglas blood belong. 600 

The old men marked and shook the head, 

To see his hair with silver spread, 

And winked aside, and told each son 

Of feats upon the English done, 

Ere Douglas of the stalwart hand, 605 

Was exiled from his native land. 

The women praised his stately form, 

Though wrecked by many a winter's storm; 

The youth with awe and wonder saw 

His strength surpassing Nature's law. 610 

Thus judged, as is their wont, the crowd, 

Till murmurs rose to clamors loud. 

But not a glance from that proud ring 

Of peers who circled round the King 

With Douglas held communion kind, 615 

Or called the banished man to mind; 

No, not from those who at the chase 

Once held his side the honored place, 

Begirt his board, and in the field 

Found safety underneath his shield; 620 

For he whom royal eyes disown, 

When was his form to courtiers known! 

XXIV 

The Monarch saw the gambols flag, 
And bade let loose a gallant stag, 



92 The Lady of the Lake 

Whose pride, the holiday to crown, 625 

Two favorite greyhounds should pull down, 

That venison free and Bourdeaux wine 

Might serve the archery to dine. 

But Lufra, — whom from Douglas' side 

Nor bribe or threat could e'er divide, 630 

The fleetest hound in all the North, — 

Brave Lufra saw, and darted forth. 

She left the royal hounds midway, 

And dashing on the antlered prey, 

Sunk her sharp muzzle in his flank, 635 

And deep the flowing life-blood drank. 

The King's stout huntsman saw the sport 

By strange intruder broken short, 

Came up, and with his leash unbound 

In anger struck the noble hound. 640 

The Douglas had endured, that mom, 

The King's cold look, the nobles' scorn, 

And last, and worst to spirit proud, 

Had borne the pity of the crowd ; 

But Lufra had been fondly bred, 645 

To share his board, to watch his bed, 

And oft would Ellen Lufra's neck, 

In maiden glee with garlands deck ; 

They were such playmates that with name 

Of Lufra Ellen's image came. 650 

His stifled wrath is brimming high, 

In darkened brow and flashing eye ; 

As waves before the bark divide, 

The crowd gave way before his stride ; 

Needs but a buffet and no more, 655 

The groom lies senseless in his gore. 

Such blow no other hand could deal, 

Though gauntleted in glove of steel. 



The Lady of the Lake 93 

XXV 

Then clamored loud the royal train, 

And brandished swords and staves amain, 660 

But stern the Baron's warning: "Back! 

Back, on your lives, ye menial pack ! 

Beware the Douglas. — Yes ! behold, 

King James ! The Douglas, doomed of old, 

And vainly sought for near and far, 665 

A victim to atone the war, 

A willing victim, now attends, 

Nor craves thy grace but for his friends. — " 

"Thus is my clemency repaid? 

Presumptuous Lord!" the Monarch said. 670 

"Of thy misproud ambitious clan, 

Thou, James of Bothwell, wert the man, 

The only man, in whom a foe 

My woman-mercy would not know; 

But shall a Monarch's presence brook 675 

Injurious blow and haughty look? — 

What ho ! the Captain of our Guard ! 

Give the offender fitting ward. — 

Break off the sports !" — for tumult rose, 

And yeomen 'gan to bend their bows, — 680 

"Break off the sports !" he said and frowned, 

"And bid our horsemen clear the ground." 

XXVI 

Then uproar wild and misarray 

Marred the fair form of festal day. 

The horsemen pricked among the crowd, 685 

Repelled by threats and insult loud ; 

To earth are borne the old and weak, 

The timorous fly, the women shriek ; 

With flint, with shaft, with staff, with bar, 

The hardier urge tumultuous war. 690 



94 The Lady of the Lake 

At once round Douglas darkly sweep, 

The royal spears in circle deep, 

And slowly scale the pathway steep, 

While on the rear in thunder pour 

The rabble with disordered roar. 695 

With grief the noble Douglas saw 

The Commons rise against the law, 

And to the leading soldier said: 

"Sir John of Hyndford, 't was my blade 

That Knighthood on thy shoulder laid; 700 

For that good deed permit me then 

A word with these misguided men. — 

XXVII 

"Hear, gentle friends, ere yet for me 

Ye break the bands of fealty. 

My life, my honor, and my cause, 705 

I tender free to Scotland's laws. 

Are these so weak as must require 

The aid of your misguided ire? 

Or if I suffer causeless wrong, 

Is then my selfish rage so strong, 710 

My sense of public weal so low, 

That, for mean vengeance on a foe, 

Those cords of love I should unbind 

Which knit my country and my kind ? 

O no! Believe, in yonder tower 715 

It will not sooth my captive hour, 

To know those spears our foes should dread 

For me in kindred gore are red : 

To know, in fruitless brawl begun, 

For me that mother wails her son, 720 

For me that widow's mate expires ; 

For me that orphans weep their sires, 

That patriots mourn insulted laws, 



The Lady of the Lake 95 

And curse the Douglas for the cause. 

O let your patience ward such ill, 725 

And keep your right to love me still !" 

XXVIII 

The crowd's wild fury sunk again 

In tears, as tempests melt in rain. 

With lifted hands and eyes, they prayed 730 

For blessings on his generous head 

Who for his country felt alone, 

And prized her blood beyond his own. 

Old men upon the verge of life 

Blessed him who stayed the civil strife; 735 

And mothers held their babes on high, 

The self-devoted Chief to spy, 

Triumphant over wrongs and ire, 

To whom the prattlers owed a sire. 

Even the rough soldier's heart was moved; 740 

As if behind some bier beloved, 

With trailing arms and drooping head, 

The Douglas up the hill he led, 

And at the Castle's battled verge, 

With sighs resigned his honored charge. 745 

XXIX 

The offended Monarch rode apart, 

With bitter thought and swelling heart, 

And would not vouchsafe again 

Through Stirling streets to lead his train. 

"O Lennox, who would wish to rule 750 

This changeling crowd, this common fool? 

Hear'st thou," he said, "the loud acclaim 

With which they shout the Douglas name? 

With like acclaim the vulgar throat 

Strained for King James their morning note, 755 

With like acclaim they hailed the day 



96 The Lady of the Lake 

When I first broke the Douglas sway ; 

And like acclaim would Douglas greet 

If he could hurl me from my seat. 

Who o'er the herd would wish to reign, 760 

Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain? 

XXX 

But soft! what messenger of speed 

Spurs hitherward his panting steed? 

I guess his cognizance afar 

"What from our cousin, John of Mar?" 765 

"He prays, my liege, your sports keep bound 

Within the safe and guarded ground; 

For some foul purpose yet unknown, — 

Most sure for evil to the throne, — 

The outlawed Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, 770 

Has summoned his rebellious crew ; 

'T is said, in James of Bothwell's aid 

These loose banditti stand arrayed. 

The Earl of Mar this morn from Doune 

To break their muster marched, and soon 775 

Your grace will hear of battle fought; 

But earnestly the Earl besought, 

Till for such danger he provide, 

With scanty train you will not ride." 

XXXI 

"Thou warn'st me I have done amiss, 780 

I should have earlier looked to this ; 

I lost it in this bustling day. — 

Retrace with speed thy former way ; 

Spare not for spoiling of thy steed, 

The best of mine shall be thy meed. 785 

Say to our faithful Lord of Mar, 

We do forbid the intended war; 

Roderick this morn in single fight 



The Lady of the Lake 97 

Was made our prisoner by a knight, 

And Douglas hath himself and cause 790 

Submitted to our Kingdom's laws. 

The tidings of their leaders lost 

Will soon dissolve the mountain host, 

Nor would we that the vulgar feel, 

For their Chiefs crimes., avenging steel. 795 

Bear Mar our message, Braco, fly !" 

He turned his steed, — "My liege, I hie, 

Yet ere I cross this lily lawn 

I fear the broadswords will be drawn." 

The turf the flying courser spurned, 800 

And to the towers the King returned. 



98 The Lady of the Lake 



CANTO SIXTH 

THE GUARD-ROOM 

I 

At dawn the towers of Stirling rang 

With soldier-step and weapon-clang, 

While drums with rolling note foretell 

Relief to weary sentinel. 

Through narrow loop and casement barred, 5 

The sunbeams sought the Court of Guard, 

And, struggling with the smoky air, 

Deadened the torches' yellow glare. 

In comfortless alliance shone 

The lights through arch of blackened stone, 10 

And showed wild shapes in garb of war, 

Faces deformed with beard and scar, 

All haggard from the midnight watch, 

And fevered with the stern debauch ; 

For the oak table's massive board, 

Flooded with wine, with fragments stored, 15 

And beakers drained, and cups o'crthrown, 

Showed in what sport the night had flown. 

Some, weary, snored on floor and bench ; 

Some labored still their thirst to quench; 

Some, chilled with watching, spread their hands 20 

O'er the huge chimney's dying brands, 

While round them, or beside them flung, 

At every step their harness rung. 

ii 

They held debate of bloody fray ; 

Fought 'twixt Loch Katrine and Achray. 25 

Fierce was their speech, and mid their words 



The Lady of the Lake 99 

Their hands oft grappled to their swords ; 

Nor sunk their tone to spare the ear 

Of wounded comrades groaning near, 

Whose mangled limbs and bodies gored 30 

Bore token of the mountain sword, 

Though, neighboring to the Court of Guard, 

Their prayers and feverish wails were heard, — 

Sad burden to the ruffian joke, 

And savage oath by fury spoke ! — 35 

At length up started John of Brent, 

A yeoman from the banks of Trent ; 

A stranger to respect or fear, 

In peace a chaser of the deer, 

In host a hardy mutineer, 40 

But still the boldest of the crew 

When deed of danger was to do. 

He grieved that day their games cut short, 

And marred the dicer's brawling sport, 

And shouted loud, "Renew the bowl ! 

And, while a merry catch I troll, 45 

Let each the buxom chorus bear, 

Like brethren of the brand and spear." 

in 

The warder's challenge, heard without, 

Stayed in mid-roar the merry shout. 50 

A soldier to the portal went, — 

"Here is old Bertram, sirs, of Ghent; 

And — beat for jubilee the drum! — 

A maid and minstrel with him come." 

Bertram, a Fleming, gray and scarred, 

Was entering now the Court of Guard, 55 

A harper with him, and, in plaid 

All muffled close, a mountain maid, 

Who backward shrunk to 'scape the view 



100 The Lady of the Lake 

Of the loose scene and boisterous crew. 

"What news" they roared: — "I only know, 60 

From noon till eve we fought with foe, 

As wild and as untamable 

As the rude mountains where they dwell; 

On both sides store of blood is lost, 

Nor much success can either boast." — 65 

"But whence thy captives, friend? such spoil 

As theirs must needs reward thy toil. 

Old dost thou wax, and wars grow sharp ; 

Thou now hast glee-maiden and harp ! 

Get thee an ape, and trudge the land, 70 

The leader of a juggler band." 

IV 

"No, comrade; — no such fortune mine. 

After the fight these sought our line, 

That aged harper and the girl, 

And, having audience of the Earl, 75 

Mar bade I should purvey them steed, 

And bring them hitherward with speed. 

Forbear your mirth and rude alarm, 

For none shall do them shame or harm. — " 

"Hear ye his boast?" cried John of Brent, 80 

Ever to strife and jangling bent; 

"Shall he strike doe beside our lodge, 

And yet the jealous niggard grudge 

To pay the forester his fee? 

I'll have my share howe'er it be, 85 

Despite of Moray, Mar, or thee." 

Bertram his forward step withstood; 

And, burning in his vengeful mood, 

Old Allan, though unfit for strife, 

Laid hand "upon his dagger-knife ; 90 

But Ellen boldly stepped between, 



The Lady of the Lake 101 

And dropped at once the tartan screen : — 

So, from his morning cloud, appears 

The sun of May through summer tears. 

The savage soldiery, amazed, 95 

As on descended angel gazed; 

Even hardy Brent, abashed and tamed, 

Stood half admiring, half ashamed. 



Boldly she spoke: "Soldiers, attend! 

My father was the soldier's friend, 100 

Cheered him in camps, in marches led, 

And with him in the battle bled. 

Not from the valiant or the strong 

Should exile's daughter suffer wrong." 

Answered De Brent, most forward still 105 

In every feat or good or ill : 

"I shame me of the part I played ; 

And thou an outlaw's child, poor maid! 

An outlaw I by forest laws, 

And merry Needwood knows the cause. 110 

Poor Rose, — if Rose be living now ;" — 

He wiped his iron eye and brow, — 

"Must bear such age, I think, as thou. — 

Hear ye, my mates ! I go to call 

The Captain of our watch to hall: 115 

There lies my halberd on the floor; 

And he that steps rm r halberd o'er, 

To do the maid injurious part, 

My shaft shall quiver in his heart! 

Beware loose speech, or jesting rough; 120 

Ye all know John de Brent. Enough." 

VI 

Their Captain came, a gallant young, — 
Of Tullibardine's house he sprung, — 



102 The Lady of the Lake 

Nor wore he yet the spurs of knight ; 

Gay was his mien, his humor light, 125 

And, though by courtesy controlled, 

Forward his speech, his bearing bold. 

The high-born maiden ill could brook 

The scanning of his curious look 

And dauntless eye: — and yet, in sooth, 130 

Young Lewis was a generous youth; 

But Ellen's lovely face and mien, 

111 suited to the garb and scene, 

Might lightly bear construction strange, 

And give loose fancy scope to range. 135 

"Welcome to Stirling towers, fair maid ! 

Come ye to seek a champion's aid, 

On palfrey white, with harper hoar, 

Like errant damosel of yore? 

Does thy high quest a knight require, 140 

Or may the venture suit a squire?" 

Her dark eye flashed; — she paused and sighed: — 

"O what have I to do with pride ! — 

Through scenes of sorrow, shame, and strife, 

A suppliant for a father's life, 145 

I crave an audience of the King. 

Behold, to back my suit, a ring, 

The ro} T al pledge of grateful claims, 

Given by the Monarch to Fitz-James." 

vn 

The signet-ring young Lewis took 150 

With deep respect and altered look, 

And said: "This ring our duties own; 

And pardon, if to worth unknown, 

In semblance mean obscurely veiled, 

Lady, in aught my folly failed. 155 

Soon as the day flings wide his gates, 



The Lady of the Lake 103 

The King shall know what suitor waits. 

Please you meanwhile in fitting bower 

Repose you till his waking hour ; 

Female attendance shall obey 160 

Your hest, for service or array. 

Permit I marshal you the way." 

But, ere she followed, with the grace * 

And open bounty of her race, 

She bade her slender purse be shared 165 

Among the soldiers of the guard. 

The rest with thanks their guerdon took, 

But Brent, with shy and awkward look, 

On the reluctant maiden's hold 

Forced bluntly back the proffered gold: 170 

"Forgive a haughty English heart, 

And 0, forget its ruder part! 

The vacant purse shall be my share, 

Which in my barret-cap I'll bear, 

Perchance, in jeopardy of war, 175 

Where gayer crests may keep afar." 

With thanks — 'twas all she could — the maid 

His rugged courtesy repaid. 

VIII 

When Ellen forth with Lewis went, 

Allan made suit to John of Brent: — 180 

"My lady safe, O let your grace 

Give me to see my master's face ! 

His minstrel I, — to share his doom 

Bound from the cradle to the tomb. 

Tenth in descent, since first my sires 185 

Waked for his noble house their lyres, 

Nor one of all the race was known 

But prized its weal above their own. 

With the Chief's birth begins our care ; 



104 The Lady of the Lake 

Our harp must soothe the infant heir, 190 

Teach the youth tales of fight, and grace 

His earliest feat of field or chase; 

In peace, in war, our rank we keep, 

We cheer his board, we soothe his sleep, 

Nor leave him till we pour our verse 195 

A doleful tribute! — o'er his hearse. 

Then let me share his captive lot, 

It is my right, — deny it not!" 

"Little we reck," said John of Brent, 

"We Southern men, of long descent ; 200 

Nor wot we how a name — a word — 

Makes clansmen vassals to a lord ; 

Yet kind my noble landlord's part, — 

God bless the house of Beaudesert! 

And, but I loved to drive the deer 205 

More than to guide the laboring steer, 

I had not dwelt an outcast here. 

Come, good old Minstrel, follow me; 

Thy Lord and Chieftain shalt thou see." 

IX 

Then, from a rusted iron hook, 210 

A bunch of ponderous keys he took, 

Lighted a torch, and Allan led 

Through grated arch and passage dread. 

Portals they passed, where, deep within, 

Spoke prisoner's moan and fetters' din ; 21 5 

Through rugged vaults, where, loosely stored, 

Lay wheel, and axe, and headsman's sword, 

And many a hideous engine grim, 

For wrenching joint and crushing limb, 

By artists formed who deemed it shame 220 

And sin to give their work a name. 

They halted at a low-browed porch. 



The Lady of the Lake 105 

And Brent to Allan gave the torch, 

While bolt and chain he backward rolled, 

And made the bar unhasp its hold. 225 

They entered: — 't was a prison-room 

Of stern security and gloom, 

Yet not a dungeon ; for the day 

Through lofty gratings found its way, 

And rude and antique garniture 230 

Decked the sad walls and oaken floor, 

Such as the rugged days of old 

Deemed fit for captive noble's hold, 

"Here," said De Brent, "thou mayst remain 

Till the Leech visit him again 235 

Strict is his charge, the warders tell, 

To tend the noble prisoner well." 

Retiring then the bolt he drew, 

And the lock's murmurs growled anew. 

Roused at the sound, from lowly bed 240 

A captive feebly raised his head; 

The wondering Minstrel looked, and knew — 

Not his dear lord, but Roderick Dhu ! 

For, come from where Clan-Alpine fought, 

They, erring, deemed the Chief he sought. 245 



As the tall ship, whose lofty prore 

Shall never stem the billows more, 

Deserted by her gallant band, 

Amid the breakers lies astrand, — 

So on his couch lay Roderick Dhu! 250 

And oft his fevered limbs he threw 

In toss abrupt, as when her sides 

Lie rocking in the advancing tides, 

That shake her frame with ceaseless beat, 

Yet cannot heave her from her seat; — 255 



106 The Lady of the Lake 

O, how unlike her course at sea ! 

Or his free step on hill and lea ! — 

Soon as the Minstrel he could scan, — 

"What of thy lady? — of my clan? — 

My mother? — Douglas? — tell me all! 260 

Have they been ruined in my fall ? 

Ah, yes ! or wherefore art thou here ? 

Yet speak, — speak boldly, — do not fear." — 

For Allan, who his mood well knew, 

Was choked with grief and terror too. — 265 

"Who fought? — who fled? — Old man, be brief; — 

Some might, — for they had lost their Chief. 

Who basely live? — who bravely died?" 

"O, calm thee, Chief!" the Minstrel cried, 

"Ellen is safe !" "For that thank Heaven !" 270 

"And hopes are for the Douglas given;- — 

The Lady Margaret, too, is well, 

And, for thy clan, — on field or fell, 

Has never harp of minstrel told 

Of combat fought so true and bold. 275 

Thy stately Pine is yet unbent, 

Though many a goodly bough is rent." 

XI 

The Chieftain reared his form on high, 

And fever's fire was in his eye; 280 

But ghastly, pale, and livid streaks 

Checkered his swarthy brow and cheeks. 

"Hark, Minstrel ! I have heard thee play, 

With measure bold on festal day, 

In yon lone isle, — again where ne'er 285 

Shall harper play or warrior hear! — 

That stirring air that peals on high, 

O'er Dermid's race our victory : — 

Strike it! — and then, — for well thou canst, — 



The Lady of the Lake 107 

Free from thy minstrel-spirit glanced, 290 

Fling me the picture of the fight, 

When met my clan the Saxon might. 

I'll listen, till my fancy hears 

The clang of swords, the crash of spears ! 

These grates, these walls, shall vanish then 295 

For the fair field of fighting men, 

And my free spirit burst away, 

As if it soared from battle fray." 

The trembling Bard with awe obeyed, 

Slow on the harp his hand he laid; 300 

But soon remembrance of the sight 

He witnessed from the mountain's height, 

With what old Bertram told at night, 

Awakened the full power of song, 

And bore him in career along; — 305 

As shallop launched on river's tide, 

That slow and fearful leaves the side, 

But, when it feels the middle stream, 

Drives downward swift as lightning's beam. 

At first, the Chieftain, to the chime, 310 

With lifted hand kept feeble time; 

That motion ceased, — yet feeling strong 

Varied his look as changed the song; 

At length, no more his deafened ear 

The minstrel melody can hear; 315 

His face grows sharp, — his hands arc clenched, 

As if some pang his heart-strings wrenched ; 

Set are his teeth, his fading eye 

Is sternly fixed on vacancy ; 

Thus, motionless and moanless, drew 320 

His parting breath stout Roderick Dhu! — 

Old Allan-bane looked on aghast, 

While grim and still his spirit passed; 



108 The Lady of the Lake 

But when he saw that life was fled, 
He poured his wailing o'er the dead. 

xn 

Ellen the while, with bursting heart, 325 

Remained in lordly bower apart, 

Where played, with many-colored gleams, 

Through storied pane the rising beams. 

In vain on gilded roof they fall, 

And lightened up a tapestried wall, 330 

And for her use a menial train 

A rich collation spread in vain. 

The banquet proud, the chamber gay, 

Scarce drew one curious glance astray ; 

Or if she looked, 'twas but to say, 335 

With better omen dawned the day 

In that lone isle, where waved on high 

The dun-deer's hide for canopy ; 

Where oft her noble father shared 

The simple meal her care prepared, 340 

While Lufra, crouching by her side, 

Her station claimed with jealous pride, 

And Douglas, bent on woodland game, 

Spoke of the chase to Malcolm Gramme, 

Whose answer, oft at random made, 345 

The wandering of his thoughts betrayed. 

Those who such simple joys have known 

Are taught to prize them when they're gone. 

But sudden, see, she lifts her head, 

The window seeks with cautious tread. 350 

What distant music has the power 

To win her in this woful hour? 

'Twas from a turret that o'erhung 

Her latticed bower, the strain was sung. 



The Lady of the Lake 109 

xin 

LAY OF THE IMPRISONED HUNTSMAN 

"My hawk is tired of perch and hood, 355 

My idle grey hound loathes Ins food ; 

My horse is weary of his stall, 

And I am sick of captive thrall. 

I wish I were as I have been, 

Hunting the hart in forest green, 360 

With bended bow and bloodhound free, 

For that's the life is meet for me. 

"I hate to learn the ebb of time 

From yon dull steeple's drowsy chime, 

Or mark it as the sunbeams crawl, 365 

Inch after inch, along the wall. 

The lark was wont my matins ring, 

The sable rook my vespers sing; 

These towers, although a king's they be, 

Have not a hall of joy for me. 370 

"No more at dawning morn I rise, 

And sun myself in Ellen's eyes, 

Drive the fleet deer the forest through, 

And homeward wend with evening dew; 

A blithesome welcome blithely meet, 375 

And lay my trophies at her feet, 

While fled the eve on wing of glee, — 

That life is lost to love and me !" 

XIV 

The heart-sick lay was hardly said, 

The listener had not turned her head, 380 

It trickled still, the starting tear, 

When light a footstep struck her ear, 

And Snowdoun's graceful Knight was near. 

She turned the hastier, lest again 

The prisoner should renew his strain. 385 



110 The Lady of the Lake 

"O welcome, brave Fitz- James !" she said ; 

"How may an almost orphan maid 

Pay the deep debt — " "O say not so ! 

To me no gratitude you owe. 

Not mine, alas ! the boon to give, 390 

And bid thy noble father live ; 

I can but be thy guide, sweet maid, 

With Scotland's King thy suit to aid. 

No tyrant he, though ire and pride 

May lay his better mood aside. 395 

Come, Ellen, come ! 'tis more than time, 

He holds his court at morning prime." 

With beating heart, and bosom wrung, 

As to a brother's arm she clung. 

Gently he dried the falling tear, 400 

And gently whispered hope and cheer ; 

Her faltering steps half led, half stayed, 

Through gallery fair and high arcade, 

Till at his touch its wings of pride 

A portal arch unfolded wide. 405 

xv 
Within 'twas brilliant all and light ; 
A thronging scene of figures bright ; 
It glowed on Ellen's dazzled sight, 
As when the setting sun has given 

Ten thousand hues to summer even, 410 

And from their tissue fancy frames 
Aerial knights and fairy dames. 
Still by Fitz- James her footing staid; 
A few faint steps she forward made, 
Then slow her drooping head she raised, 415 

And fearful round the presence gazed ; 
For him she sought who owned this state, 
The dreaded Prince whose will was fate ! — 
She gazed on many a princely port 



The Lady of the Lake 111 

Might well have ruled a royal court ; 420 

On many a splendid garb she gazed, — 

Then turned bewildered and amazed, 

For all stood bare ; and in the room 

Fitz-James alone wore cap and plume. 

To him each lady's look was lent, 425 

On him each courtier's eye was bent ; 

Midst furs and silks and jewels sheen, 

He stood, in simple Lincoln green, 

The centre of the glittering ring, — 

And Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's King! 430 

XVI 

As wreath of snow on mountain-breast 

Slides from the rock that gave it rest, 

Poor Ellen glided from her stay, 

And at the Monarch's feet she lay ; 

No word her choking voice commands, — 435 

She showed the ring, — she clasped her hands. 

0, not a moment could he brook, 

The generous Prince, that suppliant look! 

Gently he raised her, — and, the while, 

Checked with a glance the circle's smile ; 440 

Graceful, but grave, her brow he kissed, 

And bade her terrors be dismissed : — 

"Yes, fair; the wandering poor Fitz-James 

The fealty of Scotland claims. 

To him thy woes, thy wishes, bring ; 445 

He will redeem his signet ring. 

Ask naught for Douglas ; — 3 r ester even, 

His Prince and he have much forgiven ; 

Wrong hath he from slanderous tongue, 

1, from his rebel kinsmen, wrong. 450 
We would not, to the vulgar crowd, 

Yield what they craved with clamor loud ; 
Calmly we heard and judged his cause, 



112 The Lady of the Lake 

Our council aided and our laws. 

I stanched thy father's death-feud stern 455 

With stout De Vaux and gray Glencairn ; 

And Bothwell's Lord henceforth we own 

The friend and bulwark of our throne. — 

But, lovely infidel, how now? 

What clouds thy misbelieving brow? 460 

Lord James of Douglas, lend thine aid; 

Thou must confirm this doubting; maid." 



Then forth the noble Douglas sprung, 

And on his neck his daughter hung. 

The Monarch drank, that happy hour, 465 

The sweetest, holiest draught of Power, — 

When it can sa} 7 with godlike voice, 

"Arise, sad Virtue, and rejoice!'" 

Yet would not James the general eye 

On nature's raptures long should pry ; 470 

He stepped between — "Nay, Douglas, nay, 

Steal not my proselyte away ! 

The riddle 'tis my right to read, 

That brought this happy chance to speed. 

Yes, Ellen, when disguised I stray 475 

In life's more low but happier way, 

'Tis under name which veils my power, 

Nor falsely veils, — for Stirling's tower 

Of yore the name of Snowdoun's claims, 

And Normans call me James Fitz-James. 480 

Thus watch I o'er insulted laws, 

Thus learn to right the injured cause." 

Then, in a tone apart and low, — 

"Ah, little traitress ! none must know 

What idle dream, what lighter thought, 485 

What vanity full dearly bought, 



The Lady of the Lake 113 

Joined to thine eye's dark witchcraft, drew 

My spell-bound steps to Benvenue 

In dangerous hour, and all but gave 

Thy Monarch's life to mountain glaive !" 490 

Aloud he spoke : "Thou still dost hold 

That little talisman of gold, 

Pledge of my faith, Fitz-James' ring, — 

What seeks fair Ellen of the King?" • 

XVIII 

Full well the conscious maiden guessed 495 

He probed the weakness of her breast ; 

But with that consciousness there came 

A lightening of her fears for Grasme, 

And more she deemed the Monarch's ire 

Kindled 'gainst him who for her sire 500 

Rebellious broadsword boldly drew ; 

And, to her generous feeling true, 

She craved the grace of Roderick Dhu. 

"Forbear thy suit ; — the King of kings 

Alone can stay life's parting wings. 505 

I know his heart, I know his hand, 

Have shared his cheer, and proved his brand ; — 

My fairest earldom would I give 

To bid Clan-Alphine's Chieftain live ! — 

Hast thou no other boon to crave? 510 

No other captive friend to save?" 

Blushing, she turned her from the King, 

And to the Douglas gave the ring, 

As if she wished, her sire to speak 

The suit that stained her glowing cheek. 51 5 

"Nay, then, my pledge has lost its force, 

And stubborn justice holds her course. 

Malcolm, come forth !" — and, at the word, 

Down kneeled the Graeme to Scotland's Lord. 



114 The Lady of the Lake 

"For thee, rash youth, no suppliant sues, 520 

From thee may Vengeance claim her dues, 

Who, nurtured underneath our smile, 

Hast paid our care by treacherous wile, 

And sought amid thy faithful clan 

A refuge for an outlawed man, 525 

Dishonoring thus thy loyal name.— 

Fetters and warder for the Graeme !" 

His chain of gold the King unstrung, 

The links o'er Malcolm's neck he flung, 

Then gently drew the glittering band, 530 

And laid the clasp on Ellen's hand. 



The Lady of the Lake 115 



Notes on the Lady of the Lake 

Note. — The measure of the poem is iambic tetrameter, that 
is, the accent is on even syllables, and there are eight syllables 
to the line. This measure is employed by Scott in all his long 
poems except The Vision of Don Roderick. 

CANTO FIRST 

2. Monan's Rill. — A small stream in Perthshire, named for 
Saint Monan, a Scotch martyr of the fourth century. 

4. Glenartney. — A valley in Scotland between Benvoirlich 
and Uam-Var. The Artney, a small stream, flows 
through it. 

4. Beacon. — A signal fire. Signal fires were common among 

the Highlanders in olden times and the poet here uses 
an appropriate simile, comparing the rising sun to a 
beacon. 

5. Benvoirlich. — Ben is the Scotch word for mountain. Ben- 

voirlich is a mountain north of Glenartney. Its alti- 
tude is 3180 feet. 

10. Horn. — It was customary for the leaders of the hunt to 

carry a horn, on which they blew signals to the dogs 
and to their followers. 

11. Warder. — Keeper. 

18. Beamed Frontlet. — The stag's forehead adorned with ant- 
lers of full size. 

20. Uam-Var. — "Ua-Var, as the name is pronounced, or more 
properly Uaighmor, is a mountain to the northeast of 
the village of Callender in Menteith, deriving its name, 
which signifies the great den or cavern, from a sort of 
retreat among the rocks on the south side, said by tradi- 
tion to have been the abode of a giant. In latter times 
It was the refuge of robbers and banditti, who have 
been extirpated only within these last forty or fifty 
years. Strictly speaking, this stronghold is not a cave, 
as the name would imply, but a sort of small enclosure 
or recess, surrounded by large rocks and open above 
head." — Scott. 

37. Roe. — A species of small deer. 

38. Doe. — A female deer. 

39. Falcon. — A species of hawk. 



116 The Lady of the Lake 

Cairn. — A heap of stones. Here used poetically for the 
rocky point from which the falcon surveys the sur- 
rounding country. 
41. Ken. — Here meaning sight. The word sometimes means 

to know. 
61. Menteith. — A region south of Uam-Var drained by the 

River Teith. 
53. Moss. — A bog or morass. 

Moor. — A patch of waste land covered with heath. 

64. Lochard. — A small lake a few miles south of Loch Kat- 

rine. Aberfoyle is a small village about one and one- 
half miles east of the lake. Scott has made this lake 
famous by references to it in some of his other works. 
On the eastern side lies the scene of Helen MacGregor's 
conflict with the king's forces described in Rob Roy. 
On the north is a waterfall which was Flora Mclvor's 
favorite retreat in Waverley. 

57. LoeJi-Achray. — A small lake east of Loch Katrine. 

59. Benvenue. — A mountain south of Loch Katrine, altitude 
2386 feet. 

61. Heath. — A low shrub common on the hills and lowlands 
of Scotland. 

65. Cambus-More. — The Great Cambus, an estate situated on 

Keltie Water, southeast of Callander. 

67. Benledi. — "The Mountain of God," a mountain near Cal- 

lander. 

68. Bochastle's Heath. — A level plain situated between the 

Teith and a small stream that flows out of Loch Ven- 
nachar. 
68. The Flooded Teith.— The Teith is formed by the union of 
streams flowing from lochs Katrine, Voil and Ven- 
nachar. It joins the Forth before entering the sea. 

72. Vennachar. — "The Lake of the Fair Valley." A sheet of 

water east of Loch Achray. It is about five miles long 
and one-half mile wide. 

73. Brig of Turk. — A bridge over a small stream that flows 

into the outlet of Loch Achray. Brig is the Scotch for 

bridge. 
76. Scourge and Steel. — Whip and spur. 
81. Black Saint Hubert's Breed. — A famous breed of hunting 

hounds which take their name from the fact that they 

were kept by the abbots of Saint Hubert's monastery. 

They were of various colors. 
89. Quarry. — The hunted animal. 
91. Brake: — Coarse ferns or bushes. 



The Lady of the Lake 117 

98. For the Death Wound. — "When the stag turned to bay tb.6 
ancient hunter had the perilous task of going in upon 
and killing the desperate animal. At certain times this 
was held particularly dangerous, a wound received from 
a stag's horn being then deemed poisonous. At all 
times, however, the task was dangerous and to be ven- 
tured upon wisely and warily, either by getting behind 
the stag while he was gazing on the hounds or by 
watching an opportunity to gallop roundly in upon him 
and kill him with the sword." — Scott. 
Death-Halloo. — The shout given by the hunter when he 
had killed the stag. 

106. Trosachs. — The name generally applied to the entire re- 
gion around Loch Katrine, but strictly speaking it 
should be applied only to the region between Loch 
Katrine and Loch Achray. The word means rough or 
bristled country. 

124. Seine. — A river of France where the horse evidently was 
purchased. 

127. Woe Worth the Chase.— Woe be to the chase. Worth is 
an ancient form of the verb be used in the imperative, 
a use not now sanctioned. 

138. Level way. — Reference to the horizonal rays of the set- 

ting sun. 

139. Flinty spire. — This is a reference to the character of 

the rock revealed in the crags and precipices. 

151. Pagod. — Pagoda, a Hindoo or Buddhist temple. 

152. Mosque. — A Mohammedan temple. 

155. Eglantine. — A species of wild rose. The name is also 
given to sweet briar. 

165. Aspen. — A species of poplar. It is also called the trem- 
bling poplar, because of the almost constant quivering 
of the leaves. 

163. Warrior Oak. — Probably so called because the timber of 
the oak was in general use in the construction of ships 
of war. 

181. Unless he climb, etc. — "Until the present road was made 
through the romantic pass which I have presumptu- 
ously attempted to describe in the preceding stanzas, 
there was no mode of issuing out of the defile called 
the Trosachs, excepting by a short ladder composed of 
the branches and roots of trees."; — Scott. 

183. Broom. — A brushy shrub having dark green leaves and 
flowers of a deep golden yellow. The branches are often 
woven into brooms. 



118 The Lady of the Lake 

186. Living gold. — The lake reflected the golden tints of the 

sky and the ripple upon the surface made it appear as 
though the waters were possessed with life. 

187. Loch Katrine.— This lake is about eight miles long and 

two miles wide. It is surrounded by high mountains 
and deep ravines, and because of its beauty is often 
referred to as "The Queen of the Scottish Lakes." 
Ellen's Isle is near the outlet in the wild region of the 
Trosachs. In his Fair Maid of Perth Scott tells us that 
the lake derived its name from the Catterans, a band 
of Highland robbers that once infested the region. 

194. To sentinel. — To guard. 

199. V/ildering. — Bewildering. 

202. Ben-an. — A small mountain on the north of Loch Katrine. 
Its altitude is 1800 feet. 

210. Cloister. — A monastery or a convent. The word signi- 
fies a place of- retirement for religious purposes. 

212. Beshrew. — A mild form of imprecation meaning about 
the same as "111 luck befall." 

217. But hosts, etc. — "The clans who inhabited the romantic 
regions in the neighborhood of Loch Katrine, were, 
even until a late period, much addicted to predatory 
excursions upon their lowland neighbors." — Scott. 

222. Fall the worst. — Let the worst that may befall. 

223. Falchion. — A broad sword having the blade curved. 

246. Monument of Grecian Art. — The maiden is compared to a 
Greek statue. 

248. Naiad. — A water nymph. The naiads were goddesses 
supposed to preside over rivers, springs and fountains. 

250. Snood. — The band of ribbon with which Scottish maidens 
bound their hair. The rich material of her apparel 
and the golden brooch betray her rank. 
Plaid (played). — The plaid was the distinguishing gar- 
ment of the Highlanders. It consisted of about a dozen 
yards of woolen cloth checked in bright colors. Tha 
plaid was wrapped around the middle of the body and 
fastened with a belt. In male attire it extended about 
to the knees and formed a sort of kilt. It was fre- 
quently worn as an over-garment by both men and 
women, and each clan was distinguished by its own 
plaid. Plaid refers to the garment and tartan to the 
pattern. 

269. Indignant spirit of the North. — Reference is here made 
to the bold character and free spirit cf the Highland- 
ers, who brooked no restraint except at the point of 
the sword. 



The Lady of the Lake 119 

292. Prune. — To trim and arrange the feathers with the bill. 

296. Wont. — Accustomed. 

310. Baron. — In England and Scotland the lowest title of one 

who could hold a seat in the House of Lords. 
314. Benighted Road. — That is, he was overtaken by night 

while on the road. 
325. Heath. — A low green shrub, also called heather. The 

twigs were used for beds and brooms. 

329. Ptarmigan. — The white grouse. Heath-cock. — The black 

grouse. 

330. Mere.— Water. 

332. By the rood. — By the cross; the same as "by the rod." 

337. Fay. — A fairy or Imaginary spirit. 

342. Yesternight. — Meaning last night. Now obsolete. 

345. The Visioned Future. — Concerning this belief in the 
second sight Scott says: "If force of evidence could 
authorize us to believe facts inconsistent with the 
general laws of nature, enough might be produced in 
favor of the existence of the second sight." And 
Martin, a thorough believer in this power, says of it 
in his Description of the Western Islands: "The sec- 
ond sight is a singular faculty of seeing an otherwise 
invisible object without any previous means used by 
the person that used it for that end. The vision 
makes such a lively impression upon the seers that 
they neither see nor think of anything else except the 
vision, as long as it continues; and then they appear 
pensive or jovial according to the object that was 
presented to them." 

349. Lincoln Green. — Lowland huntsmen were usually clad in 
suits of green cloth, formerly manufactured at Lin- 
coln, hence the name, Lincoln green. 

351. Heron— A wading bird that has long legs and a long 
neck. 

361. Errant Knight. — Knight-errant, a term frequently ap- 

plied to a knight wandering in search of adventure. 
The term is now used to mean any adventurer. 

362. Sooth.— The meaning is preserved in soothsayer. 

364. Emprise. — Enterprise — here meaning a hazardous under- 
taking. 

378. The Rocky Isle. — This is still known as Ellen's Isle. It 
is situated at the foot of the lake and contains two or 
three acres of land. In Hunnewell's Lands of Scott 
we find the following description of it: "It is rather 
high and irregularly pyramidal. It is mostly com- 



120 The Lady of the Lake 

posed of dark gray rocks, mottled with pale and gray 
lichens, peeping out here and there amid the trees 
that mantle them — chiefly light graceful birches, in- 
termingled with red-berried mountain ashes and a 
few dark-green, spiry pines. The landing is beneath 
an aged oak; and as did the Lady of the Lake and 
the Knight, the traveler now ascends 'a clambering 
unsuspected road' by rude steps to the small irregular 
summit of the island." 

386. Winded.— Wound. 

390. Here for Retreat, etc. — "The Celtic chieftains whose lives 
were continually exposed to peril, had usually in the 
most retired spot of their domains, some place of 
retreat for the hour of necessity, which as circum- 
stances would admit, was a tower, a cavern, or a 
rustic hut in a strong and a secluded situation. One 
of these last gave refuge to the unfortunate Charles 
Edward, in his perilous wanderings after the battle 
of Culloden." — Scott. 

401. Idean Vine. — The red whortle-berry. 

404. And Every Hardy Plant Could Bear. — That is every 
plant which could endure the climate of the locality. 

422. A Target. — A small shield or target used in battle. 

424. Store. — Stored or laid up. 

435. Garnish. — Finish. 

442. Brook. — To bear or endure. The modern meaning is to 
endure against one's inclination or will. 

450. To Whom, etc. — The mistress was Lady Margaret, Ellen's 
maternal aunt. Ellen's mother was dead and she be- 
stowed upon her aunt a daughter's affection. 

455. Though All Unasked, etc. — The Highlanders, who carried 
hospitality to a punctilious excess, are said to have 
considered it as churlish to ask a stranger his name 
or lineage, before he had taken refreshment. Feuds 
were so frequent among them, that a contrary rule 
would in many cases have produced the discovery of 
some circumstances which might have excluded the 
guest from the benefit of the assistance he stood in 
need of. — Scott. 

447. Fellest. — Most cruel. 

461. Snowdoun. — An old name for Stirling castle. 

462. Lord of a Barren Heritage. — At this time the kingly 

power in Scotland was little more than a name, as 
shown by tbe reference to political conditions in the 



The Lady of the Lake 121 

Introduction. Each feudal chief rendered the king 
such obedience as suited his convenience and no more. 

466. Wot. — Knows, the word is now obsolete. 

550. Orisons. — Prayers. 



CANTO SECOND 

24. To the old minstrel, etc. — That Highland chieftains, to 
a late period, retained in their services the bard as 
a family officer admits of very easy proof. The au- 
thor of The Letters from North Scotland mentions 
these minstrels as late as 1720. The bard was skilled 
in the genealogy of all the Highland families and 
he sometimes acted as teacher for chieftains' sons. 
He was able to sing of all the warlike deeds of the 
successive heads of the clan, and to sing his own 
lyrics when occasion required. Many minstrels re- 
mained through life in the same family, and they 
were accounted among the leader's most faithful fol- 
lowers. Scott, in his Lay of the Last Minstrel, pays 
a high tribute to their character and fidelity. 

28. Greame. — "The ancient and powerful family of Graham 
(which for metrical reasons is here spelt after the 
Scotch pronunciation) held extensive possessions in 
the counties of Dumbarton and Stirling. Few fam- 
ilies can boast of more historical renown, having 
claim to three of the most remarkable characters in 
Scottish history. Sir John the Greame, the faithful 
and undaunted partaker of the labors and patriotic 
warfare of Wallace, fell in the unfortunate field of 
Falkirk, in 129S, The celebrated Marquis of Mont- 
rose, in whom De Retz saw realized his abstract idea 
of the heroes of antiquity, was the second of these 
worthies. And, notwithstanding the severity of his 
temper, and the rigor with which he executed the 
oppressive mandates of the princes whom he served, 
I do not hesitate to name as the third John Greame 
of Claverhouse, Viscount of Dundee, whose heroic 
death in the arms of victory may be allowed to can- 
cel the memory of his cruelty to the Nonconform- 
ists, during the reigns of Charles II and James II." 

Scott. 

36. Umvont. — Unaccustomed. 

49. BothwelVs bannered hall— Bothwell Castle, situated near 
Glasgow. It is now in ruins. 



122 The Lady of the Lake 

50. Douglasses. — Scott says that the downfall of the Doug- 
lasses of the house of Angus during the reign of 
James V is the event alluded to in the text. The 
Earl of Angus had married the queen dowager and 
availed himself of the right thus acquired and of 
his extensive power to keep the young king in cap- 
tivity some years after he was entitled to the throne. 
When James finally escaped and seized the reigns 
of power he was so incensed at the Douglas family 
that he banished them all. Archibald Douglas of 
Kilispindie, who had been a great favorite with the 
young king in his childhood, is the imaginary Doug- 
las of the poem. 

68. From Tweed to Spey. — Two rivers of Scotland. The 
Tweed formed the southern and the Spey the north- 
ern boundary of the country over which the king 
held sway. Therefore from Tweed to Spey meant 
the whole country. 

86. The Bleeding Heart. — The shield of the Douglas family 
bore a red heart crowned. Burton, in his History of 
Scotland, gives the following legend of the emblem: 
"Robert Bruce, on his deathbed, bequeathed his 
heart to the good Lord James, to be borne in war 
against the Saracens. He joined Alphonso, King of 
Leon and Castile, then at war with the Moorish chief 
Osurga of Grenada, and in a keen contest with the 
Moslems he flung before him the casket containing 
the precious relic, crying out 'Onward as thou wert 
wont, thou noble heart, Douglas will follow thee.' 
Douglas was slain, but his body was recovered, and 
also the precious casket, and in the end Douglas 
was laid with his ancestors, and the heart of Bruce 
deposited in the church of Melrose Abbey." 

92. Strathspey. — A lively Highland dance. 

97. Black Sir Roderick. — See note on 231. 

98. Holy-Rood. — A castle in Edinburgh. Concerning the 

slaying of the knight, Scott says: 

"This was by no means uncommon in the Court of 
Scotland; nay the presence of the sovereign himself 
scarcely restrained the ferocious and inveterate feuds 
which were the perpetual source of bloodshed among 
the Scottish nobility." 
108, Disowned by every noble peer. — "The exiled state of 
this powerful race is not exaggerated in this and 



The Lady of the Lake 123 

subsequent passages. The hatred of James against 
the race of Douglas was so inveterate, that, numerous 
as their allies were, and disregarded as regal author- 
ity had usually been in similar eases, their nearest 
friends, even in the most remote parts of Scotland, 
durst not entertain them unless under the strictest 
and closest disguise. Scott. 

112. Guerdon. — Reward. 

114. Dispensation. — Ellen and Roderick were cousins, and 
according to the rules of the Church they could not 
marry without a dispensation from the Pope. 

132. Shrouds. — Shields or protects. 

140. Maronnan's Cell. — "The parish of Kilmaronock, at the 
eastern extremity of Loch Lamond, derives its name 
from cell or chapel dedicated to Saint Maronock or 
Maronnan." Scott. 

152. "Tine-Man". — Archibald, the third earl of Douglas, was 
so unfortunate in all his enterprises that he acquired 
the epithet of Tineman because he tined or lost his 
followers in every battle which he fought." 

Scott. 

154. Hotspur's Bows. — The reference is to the alliance of 

Douglas with the English under Percy or Hotspur, 
in the rebellion against Henry IV of England, the 
Scots were armed with spears and the English with 
the crossbow. 

155. Did self unscabbarded. — "Ancient warriors, whose hope 

and confidence rested chiefly in their blades, were 
accustomed to deduce omens from them, especially 
from such as was supposed to have been fabricated 
by enchanted skill, of which we have various in- 
stances in the romances and legends of the time." 

Scott. 
The reference here is to the falling of the sword 
as Fitz- James entered the lodge. The old minstrel 
believed this to be an ill omen. 

166. Canna. — Cotton-grass. 

169. Pibroch. — A tune played upon the bagpipe and peculiar 
to the Highlands and islands west of Scotland. Scott 
says of it: "the connoissuers in pipe music affect to 
discover in a well-composed pibroch the imitation 
sounds of March conflict, flight, pursuit, and all the 
current of a heady fight." 

174. Glengyle. — A small valley at the northern end of Loch 
Katrine. 



124 The Lady of the Lake 

176. Brianchoil. — A headland or promontory on the north 
shore of the lake. 

179. Bannered Pine. — The pine was the ensign of Clan 
Alpine, and was displayed upon their flags. 

182. Tartans. — Meaning here the showy plaids so much worn 
in the country. The tartan is also a badge or em- 
blem of the clan and the members of each clan usually 
wore at least a small article of clothing made from 
the clan tartan. The practice is still followed by the 
descendants of some of the Highland families. 

184. Bonnet. — Bonnet is the Scotch name for the ordinary 
cap worn by the men. 

190. Chanters. — The tubes of the bagpipe. 

212. Ward. — A motion for the purpose of parrying a blow. 

222. Clarion. — A trumpet giving a clear shrill note. 

231. Burden. — The chorus. 

235. Rodrick, Yich Alpine lio! ieroe! — "Besides his ordinary 
name and surname which were chiefly used in the 
intercourse with the Lowlands, every Highland chief 
had an epithet expressive of his partriarchal dignity 
as head of the clan and which was common to all 
his predecessors and successors, as Pharaoh to the 
kings of Egypt, or Arsaces to those of Porthia, this 
name was usually a patronymic expression of his 
descent from the founder of the family. But besides 
this title which belonged to his office and dignity, 
the chieftain had usually another peculiar to himself 
which distinguished him from the chieftains of the 
same race. This was sometimes derived from the 
complexion of dim (black) or ray (red); sometimes 
from syl or beg or more; at other times from some 
peculiar exploit or some peculiar habit or appear- 
ance." The line signifies Black Rodrick, descendant 
of Alpine. Scott. 

238. Hail to the Chief. — "The song itself is intended as an 
imitation of the Parrant, or boat songs of the High- 
landers, which were usually composed in honor of 
a favorite chief. They were so adapted as to keep 
time to the sweep of the oars." Scott. 

244. Burgeon. — Meaning to bud or sprout. 

249. Beltane. — A May festival held by the Highlanders in 
honor of the sun. Fires were kindled on the hill- 
tops and dancing and merrymaking accompanied the 
ceremonies. 



The Lady of the Lake 125 

255. Menteith and Breadalbane. — Districts lying north' of 
Loch Lomond. 

258. Glen Fruin. — This and the names in the lines that 
follow refer to valleys on the borders of Loch 
Lomond. 

261. And the best of Loch Lomond, etc. — "The Lennox, as 
the district is called, which encircles the lower ex- 
tremity .of Loch Lomond, was exposed to the incur- 
sions of the mountaineers, who inhabited the 
inaccessible fastnesses at the upper end of the lake, 
and. the neighboring districts of Loch Katrine. 
These were often marked by circumstances of great 
ferocity." Scott. 

The battle to which the line refers was fought 
between the clan Macgregor on the one side and the 
Colquhouns on the other, and in which the Colqu- 
houns were defeated with great slaughter. 

327. Ptarmigan. — The white grouse. 

335. Ben Lomond. — The highest mountain on the shores of 

Loch Lomond, having an altitude of 3192 feet. 

336. Not a sob, etc. — He could ascend the mountain without 

panting. 

350. Quail. — To give way to, or cower. 

361. Glenfinlas. — A wooded valley between Benledi and Ben- 
An, with its entrance between Loch Achray and Loch 
Vennachar. 
Royal ward. — Greame was under the protection of the 
king. Since Douglas had been outlawed Greame 
was running the risk of incurring the king's displeas- 
ure in rendering assistance to Douglas or any 
member of his family. 

403. Boasts to have tamed, etc. — In 1529, James, in order to 
clear the Border of robbers, who during his minority 
had committed many depredations, assembled an 
army of 10,000 men, and with this force he so thor- 
oughly subdued the outlaws that for a term of years 
the region was as safe as the country around the 
king's castle at Stirling. 

The reference in the poem is to the hanging over 
their own gates of several noted Highland chieftains 
who were captured by strategy. 

410. Meggarts, Yarrow, etc. — These are names of small 
streams flowing into the Tweed. 

424. Espial. — Espying or discovery. 

425. Streight. — Emergency or difficulty. 



126 The Lady of the Lake 

455. Blasted be yon Pine. — The expression refers to the ban- 
ner of Clan Alpine, and is equivalent to saying "Let 
yon banner fall." 

458. Lineage of the Bleeding Heart. — See above, line 86. 

460. To wife. — For my wife. Roderick believed that should 
he and Douglas join forces they would soon gain 
enough followers to enable them to conquer the king. 

462. Enow. — The old form of enough. 

466. Links of Forth. — The windings of the Forth between 

Stirling and Alloa. 

467. Stirling's Porch. — Stirling Castle, the residence of the 

Scottish kings. 
511. Domain. — Her cheek. 
524. I love him still. — Notwithstanding the wrongs which 

Douglas had suffered from James V, he retained the 

feeling of a father towards the young King, and he 

here asserts his loyalty. 
545. Checkered shroud. — His plaid of tartan. 

585. Pity 'twere, etc. — "Hardihood was in every respect so es- 

sential to the character of the Highlander, that the 
reproach of effeminency was the most bitter that 
could be thrown upon him." — Scott. 

586. His henchman. — "This officer is a sort of secretary, and 

is to be ready upon all occasions to venture his life 
for his master; and at drinking bouts he stands behind 
his seat, at his haunch, from which the title is de- 
rived, and watches the conversation to see if any one 
offends his patron." — Scott. 

609. Fiery cross. — See below, Canto III. 

625. My sovereign holds, etc. — Malcom was not of age, there- 
fore his estate was in charge of the Crown. 



CANTO FOURTH 

1. Doune. — The Braes of Doune were the hill country 

north of the Teith. 
3. Moray's silver star. — The Earl of Moray's banner bore a 
single silver star, and that of the Earl of Mar had a 
black band called a pale extending down the center 
of the shield. These earls were supporters of the 
King. 
8. Bourne. — Boundary. 
11. Earn. — The district about Loch Earn. 
25. Stance. — Support or foundation. 



The Lady of the Lake 127 

28. Targe. — A shield, usually made of bull's hide. 

34. Coir-Urskin. — Also written Coir-nan-Urskin. Scott gives 
the following description of this place: 

"This is a very steep and most romantic hollow in 
the mountain of Benvenue, overhanging the south- 
eastern extremity of Loch Katrine. It is sur- 
rounded with stupendous rocks, and overshadowed 
with birch trees, mingled with oaks, the spontaneous 
production of the mountain, even where its cliffs ap- 
pear denuded of soil." 

The name Corri means the den of wild or shaggy 
men, but the fabled Urisk supposed to have inhabited 
the cave in the past ages had a figure between a 
goat and a man. 

49. Red streamers of the north. — The northern lights. 
54. Since this rude race, etc. — The reference in these lines 
is to the gathering of the women and children on the 
island as explained in the story of Canto Third. 
82. Cambus-kenneth. — This was an abbey near Stirling, 
across the Forth. A portion of the tower still re- 
mains. 
110. The Minstrel sings, a ballad, hoping to turn Ellen's mind 
from her father whom she considers to be in great 
danger. 
121. Hap. — Chance or circumstance. 
126. Bourne. — Boundary. 

131. Augur scathe. — Predict harm or mischief. 

132. Kern. — A serf or slave. 

150. Bochastle. — iSee Canto I, line 68. 

210. His lordship, etc. — That is his estate was the battlefield. 

212. Reck of. — Mind or care for. 

215. Signet.— The seal in the ring. This commanded the 
same attention as a passport from the King. 

239. Fared. — Journeyed. 

245. Weeds. — Dress. The woman was clothed in a tattered 
gray mantle. 

298. Lincoln green. — See above, Canto I, line 349. 

301. my sweet William.— The sight of Fitz James in his 
lowland garb reminds the insane woman of her hus- 
band, and she warns the stranger of his peril. 

324. Thrilled.— Quivered. 

331. Thine ambushed kin. — Roderick's men were lying in 
wait for Fitz James and Murdoch was to lead him 
into an ambush where he would be slain. 

349. Draggled. — Wet or spattered with her blood. 



128 The Lady of the Lake 

379. Blanche of Devan. — The insane woman was from the val- 
ley of the Devan, a beautiful stream that flows from 
the hills of Perthshire to the great plain of Stirling. 

394. Imbue. — Drench or soak, especially in blood. 

398. The stag at bay. — Fitz James, alone in a strange region 
with Roderick's men in pursuit, likens himself to a 
stag at bay. 

401. Desperate track. — Difficult and dangerous track. 

449. Who ever recked, etc. — The following quotation from 
Clarendon's History of the Rebellion explains the 
custom to which the lines refer: 

"It was true we gave laws to hares and deer, be- 
cause they are beasts of the chase; but it was never 
accounted either cruelty or foul play to knock foxes 
or wolves on the head as they can be found, because 
they are beasts of prey." 

The mountaineer, considering Fitz James a spy, 
hints that he deserves no better treatment than was 
accorded foxes and wolves. 

464. The hardened flesh of mountain deer. — The High- 
landers of these times had a method of preparing the 
flesh of the deer for eating without cooking it. This 
consisted in compressing the flesh between two pieces 
of wood so as to force out the blood and render the 
meat very hard. When thus prepared venison was 
considered a great delicacy. 

474. A mighty augury. — This refers to Brian's prophecy ex- 
plained in the introduction to this canto. 

482. Stranger is a holy name. — See above, Canto I, line 455. 

489. Coilantogle Ford. — A ford near the outlet of Loch Ven- 
nachar. When he arrived at this point Fitz James 
would have passed the boundaries of Roderick's do- 
main and entered the domains under the control of 
the King. He would then need no further protection 
from his guide. 



CANTO FIFTH 

1. Fair as the earliest beam. — This stanza is introductory. 
The early sunbeam which lights the mountain path is 
used by the poet to show the beauty of that faith and 
courtesy which Fitz James and Roderick manifested 
towards each other, although they were bitter ene- 
mies. 
15. Soldiers' matins. — The morning prayers that they were 
accustomed to offer. 



The Lady of the Lake 129 

18. Gael. — The Scotch name for the Highlanders, as Saxon 
was their name for the Lowlanders. (See Introduc- 
tion.) 
22. Wildering. — Bewildering. 
38. Scanty cloak. — The sparse vegetation covering the 

mountain side. 
40. Shingles. — Gravel. 
81. Muster. — A gathering of troops. 
96. Who in Regent's court. — See Canto II, line 98. 

112. Albany. — This was John Stewart, Duke of Albany, who 
was regent during the minority of James V. Con- 
cerning the lawlessness of this period Scott says: 

"There is scarcely a more disorderly period in Scot- 
tish history than that which succeeded the battle of 
Flodden, and occupied the minority of James V. 
Feuds of ancient standing broke out like old wounds, 
and every quarrel among the independent nobility, 
which occurred daily and almost hourly, gave rise to 
fresh bloodshed." 

141. Target and claymore. — These were the weapons of the 
ancient Britons, from whom the Highlanders de- 
scended. 

151. Maze. — A winding course. 

153. Shall with strong hand, etc. — Concerning this practice 
of the Highlanders Scott says: 

"So far, indeed, was a Creagh, or foray, from being 
held disgraceful, that a young chief was always 
expected to show his talents for command so soon as 
he assumed it, by leading his clan on a successful en- 
terprise of this nature, either against a neighboring 
sept, for which constant feuds usually furnished an 
apology, or against the Sassenach, Saxons, or Lowland- 
ers, for which no apology was necessary. The Gaels, 
great traditional historians, never forgot that the 
Lowlands had, at some remote period, been the prop- 
erty of their Celtic forefathers, which furnished an 
ample vindication of all the ravages that they could 
make on the unfortunate districts which lay within 
their reach." 

186. Curlew. — A species of wading bird, found upon the sea- 
shore during winter and among the mountains in the 
summer. 

218. Manned himself, etc. — Notwithstanding the odds against 
him, Fitz James resolved to defend himself to the 
last, therefore he assumed a bold attitude. 



130 The Lady of the Lake 

240. Glinted. — Flashed or reflected. 

241. Glaive, targe and jack. — The glaive was the broad- 

sword; the targe was a shield and the jack a leather 
jacket worn by horsemen as a protection in battle. 

216. Without a pass, etc. — Scott says: "This incident, like 
some other passages in the poem, illustrative of the 
character of the ancient Gael, is not imaginary, but 
borrowed from fact. The Highlanders, with the in- 
consistency of most nations in the same state, were 
alternately capable of great exhibitions of generosity 
and of cruel revenge and perfidy." 

264. Which the daughter, etc. — These lakes were Katrine, 
Achray and Vennachar. 

266. Bochastle. — "The torrent which discharges itself from 
Loch Vennachar, the lowest and eastmost of the three 
lakes which form the scenery adjoining the Trosachs, 
sweeps through a flat and extensive moor called Bo- 
chastle. Upon a small eminence called the Dun of 
Bochastle and indeed on the plain itself are some 
intrenchments which have been thought Roman." 
— Scott. 

269. Eagle wings, etc. — This is a reference to the standard 
of the Roman army, which was an eagle. The Romans 
occupied the island of Great Britain from 55 B. C. 
until early in the fifth century. 

281. All vantageless I stand. — "The duelists of former times 
did not always stand upon those fine points respect- 
ing the equality of arms, which are now judged essen- 
tial to fair combat. It is true that in former combats 
in the lists (public duels) the parties were by the 
judges of the field put as nearly as possible on the 
same circumstances. But in a private duel it was 
often otherwise." — Scott. 

297. Who spills, etc. — See introduction to Canto IV. 

322. Carpet knight. — One who frequents the court and castle, 
and does not win his honors on the field of battle. 

330. Ruth. — Pity. The present form is ruthless, which means 
pitiless. 

346. Targe. — "A round target of light wood (covered with 
strong leather and studded with brass or iron was a 
necessary part of the Highlander's equipment. In 
charging regular troops they received the thrust of the 
bayonet in this buckler, twisted it aside and used 
the broadsword against the encumbered soldier." 
^Scott, 



The Lady of the Lake 131 

359. Trained abroad. — Fitz James had received his training 
in France, where he learned to use the rapier, a 
pointed sword, instead of the much heavier 
and more unwieldly broadsword used by the High- 
landers. Fitz James was as skilful in parrying the 
blows of his antagonist as he was in his attack, and 
although Roderick was the stronger the difference in 
weapons placed him at a disadvantage. 

407. In Roderick's gore. — See Canto IV, lines 385-395. 

427. Palfrey. — A small saddle-horse used by ladies. This 
was the horse upon which Fitz James expected to 
take Ellen to the castle, had he succeeded in prevail- 
ing upon her to accompany him. 

455. Saint Serle. — One of the least important of the saints. 
The name is evidently here used for the sake of the 
rhyme. 

464. Cambus-kenneth. — See Canto IV, line 82. 

479. Ye towers. — This and the following lines refer to Stir- 
ling Castle, one of the strongest fortresses of Scot- 
land and the residence of James V. It was within 
this castle that William, eighth earl of Douglas, was 
stabbed by James II. 

481. V sad and fatal mound. — "An eminence on the northeast 
of Stirling Castle where state criminals were exe- 
cuted. Stirling was often polluted with noble blood." 
— Scott. 

48S. Franciscan steeple. — The Franciscans are an order in 
the Roman Catholic church, established by Saint 
Francis. The early members were distinguished by 
their vows of poverty and their renunciation of the 
world. 

492. Morrice dancers. — Those who performed Moorish or 
Spanish dances, in which the actors impersonated 
prominent characters. 

514. Jennet. — A small Spanish horse. 

524. Commons King. — James V favored the common people 

instead of the nobles, and was therefore known as 
the Commons King. 

525. Behind the King, etc. — This was the burghers' feast day, 

and is described by Scott as follows: 

"Every burgh of Scotland of the least note, but 
more especially the considerable towns, had their sol- 
emn play, or festival, when feats of archery were ex- 
hibited, and prizes distributed to those who excelled 
in wrestling, hurling the bar, and the other gymnastic 



132 The Lady of the Lake 

exercises of the period. Stirling, a usual place of 
royal residence, was not likely to be deficient in 
pomp upon such occasions, especially since James V 
was very partial to them. His ready participation 
in these popular amusements was one cause of his 
acquiring the title of the King of the Commons, or 
Rex Plebeiorum, as Lesley has latinized it. The usual 
prize to the best shooter was a silver arrow." 

532. Hostage for their clan. — James compelled some of the 
most powerful Highland chieftains to reside at the 
castle, as a guaranty of good behavior of their clans. 
An uprising by one of these clans would cause their 
chief to be put to death at once, therefore so long as 
the chieftains were in the King's power there was 
little danger from their clans. This forced service 
was very aggravating to the chieftains, but they were 
powerless to change their condition. 

536. Feudal power. — The Highland chieftains had absolute 
command over the services of their clansmen during 
war. The case of Clan Alpine was no exception to 
the general rule. 

544. Robin Hood. — A celebrated outlaw who lived about 1190. 
He is fully described by Scott in Ivanhoe. The ex- 
hibition of this band of outlaws was common at such 
gatherings. Friar Tuck, Scathelocke, Maid Marian, 
Scarlet, Mutch and Little John were Robin Hood's 
most noted followers. 

551. The Douglas bent a bow. — Concerning this and the fol- 
lowing incidents Scott says: 

"The Douglas of the poem is an imaginary person, 
a supposed uncle of Angus. But the King's behavior 
during an unexpected interview with the Laird of 
Kilspindie, one of the banished Douglases, under cir- 
cumstances similar to those in the text, is imitated 
from the real story told by Hume of Goldscroft." 

591. Ladies' Rock. — The chief point for viewing the games, 
which were held in a valley or rather a slight depres- 
sion in the hill upon which the castle stood. 

627. Bordeaux wine. — A celebrated wine named from the city 
of Bordeaux, France, where it was first made. 

639. Leash. — A long line, usually of leather, with which the 
hunter holds his dog. 

655. Needs but a buffet. — A single blow from Douglas' hand 
was all that was necessary to strike the hunter sense- 
less. 



The Lady of the Lake 133 

671. Misproud. — Unwisely or mistakenly proud. The word is 
not common. 

G78. Fitting ward. — That is, see that Douglas is safely con- 
fined under guard. 

G97. The common rise. — The common people were disposed to 
take Douglas' part; they were also angry at being dis- 
persed before the sports were finished, therefore they 
resisted the King's horsemen. 

699. Hyndford. — A small village near Lanark. 

700. That knighthood, etc. — Knighthood was conferred by 

touching the recipient upon the shoulder with a sword. 

715. Yonder tower. — Stirling Castle. Here the castle is used 
for the king. 

725. Ward such ill. — Guard such ill. 

744. And at the castle's battered verge. — The wall around the 
top of the castle, with openings through which garri- 
sons could annoy an attacking party. 



CANTO SIXTH 

5. Narrow loop. — A loop-hole in the wall. 

6. Court of Guard. — A court within the castle walls used 

by the soldiers. 
11. Faces deformed, etc. — "The Scottish armies consisted 
chiefly of the nobility and barons, with their vassals, 
who held lands under them for military service by 
themselves and their tenants. James V seems first to 
have introduced, in addition to the militia furnished 
from these sources, the services of a small number of 
mercenaries, who formed a body-guard called the foot- 
band." — Scott. 

23. Harness. — Armor. 

24. Bloody fray. — This was the battle fought between the 

followers of Roderick Dhu and the King's forces un- 
der the Earl of Mar. The King's messenger was unable 
to reach the scene of the conflict until the battle was 
well advanced. 

37. Trent. — A river of England, which in the lower part of 
its course forms the Humber. 

48. Warder's challenge. — The warder was the keeper of the 
castle gate, and none could enter without his permis- 
sion. 

'54. Fleming. — A native of Flanders, a country occupying 
what is now a portion of Belgium, Netherlands and 
France. Ghent was its capital. 



134 The Lady of the Lake 

71. Juggler band. — The jugglers were traveling entertain- 
ers, and they were usually accompanied by several 
assistants, among whom the glee-maiden always at- 
tracted most attention. It was her duty to tumble 
and dance for the amusement of the spectators. 

110. Needwood. — A king's forest in England. Killing game 
in a royal forest subjected the offender to severe pun- 
ishment. Brent doubtless fled the country to escape 
the penalty of breaking this law. 

123. Tulibardine's house. — An important residence about 
twenty miles north of Stirling Castle. It was one of 
the seats of the Murray family, who were noted for 
their pride. 

139. Errant damosel. — A wandering maiden. 

147. A ring.— See Canto IV, line 215. 

161. Hest. — Request or wish. 
Array. — Dress. 

167. Guerdon. — Reward or gift. 

174. Barret-cap. — A cloth cap worn by the soldiers of that 
day. 

182. To see my master's face. — Allan wished to see Douglas, 
but the soldier thought that he desired to see Roderick 
Dhu, hence conducted him to the chieftain's cell. 

235. Leech. — A physician. This name was long applied to 
physicians because of their custom of using leeches to 
draw blood from their patients. 

247. Prore. — The prow or forward part of a ship. The term 
comes from the Latin word prora and is used only in 
poetry. 

287. That stirring air. — Concerning the tune here mentioned 
Scott says: "There are several instances, at least in 
tradition, of prisoners so attached to particular tunes 
as to request to hear them on their death bed." 

The battle to which reference is here made was a 
skirmish which took place at the pass of Bear an 
Duine, in the Trosachs, at a much later date than the 
reign of James V. 

328. Storied pane. — The windows were ornamented with paint- 
ings representing scenes from Scottish history. 

330. Tapestried wall. — The walls were decorated with tapes- 

try, a figured cloth woven from wool or silk. 

331. Menial train. — A group of servants assigned to attend 

Ellen. 
397. Morning prime. — Early morning. 



The Lady of the Lake 135 

430. Snowdoun's knigJU. — "James V, of whom we are treating, 
was a monarch whose good and benevolent intentions 
often rendered his romantic freaks venial, if not re- 
spectable, since, from his anxious attention to the in- 
terests of the lower and most oppressed class of his 
subjects, he was, as we have seen, popularly termed 
the Commons King. For the purpose of seeing that 
justice was regularly administered, and frequently 
from the less justifiable motive of gallantry, he used 
to travel the vicinage of his several palaces in various 
disguises." — Scott. 

It is claimed that two popular songs, The Gaber- 
lunzie Man and We'll Gae Nae Mair a Roving, are 
founded upon some of James' adventures when travel- 
ing his kingdom in disguise. 

447. Yester even. — Yesterday evening 



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Orville Brewer Publishing Co. 



The Auditorium 



Chicago, Illinois 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: May 2009 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



